Helping Him Move On
by ShadowLuvr2010
Summary: Remix of Sonic X Shadow's ARC in order to create an adorable but tragic Shadamy Friendship fanfiction. Some Dark Sonic goodness, Shadow's a bit more dark. Much more Shadow/Amy confrontation. Focuses only on these two. Great for Shadamy lovers and the friendship lovers. And a bit of Sonamy cuteness too. More info inside. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary:**_ She neutralized his negativity with her positive personality. But _they_ killed her! "Those disgusting humans . . . She never deserved to die!" But while taking vengeance over all of Mobius because of the loss of his only friend, he finds someone who haunts him with the human girl's same spirit. Slowly, the pink hedgehog is able to calm the savage wrath within him. "Is she...a reincarnation?" **_Shadamy Friendship! __X3 _**With my own conjured **_Sonamy_** hints to fit with the typical Sonic X.

_**Setting/Time Period:**_ Sonic X, when Eggman awakens Project Shadow. After that, it'll be REALLY different than the show, but the show plays a role in certain key areas that I don't point out much but do happen while Shadow and Amy are the main focuses here (for instance, the fake emerald and Sonic in that capsule that blew up, the whole getting a rocket thing, the Rouge v.s. Knuckles clash, Rouge digging some dirt on Shadow and the Project). I didn't want to dwindle on this forever though, so I didn't try to get into those other scenes from Sonic X since I wanted to focus ONLY on Shadow and Amy since the story is all about them. Plot is somewhat twisted to fit Shadow's darker personality throughout this fic (Prison Island will be so much more different). And because it's more fun. :P I tried to keep it at ten good-length chapters, with the exception of the bonus extra at the end, and the finale chapter being the longest.

**_Warnings of any sorts:_** very mild profanity, tear-jerker ending, a few cutesy Shadamy moments later on (couldn't help myself), a few Sonamy hints like there were in Sonic X, pissed off Sonic going DARK a few times because of how he cares about Amy's safety from Shadow.

Things just got interesting. Now I'm gonna shut up so you can read the actual story. Enjoy! Any possible questions about the story or the characters in my story should be answered at the very last 'chapter'.

* * *

**"Wait a minute...You're not Sonic!"**

Indeed, those blood red eyes so brightly set ablaze with vengeance and malice were nothing like the emerald green eyes of Sonic the Hedgehog, the large terrorist's arch nemesis. And going by closer inspection, the fur was definitely not the same cobalt blue either. Instead, what the doctor saw in front of him was ebony fur with scarlet streaks decorating his quills. It was obvious at this point that this was not Sonic. So then . . . who was this guy?

Well, only one answer came to mind after a moment. This living creature must be the creation that Gerald Robotnik mentioned in his online journals. He expected the weapon of mass destruction to be, well, a weapon! Perhaps even a robot, but instead, Gerald created a _**living being.**_ It was beyond incredible to Doctor Eggman Robotnik, the creator's grandson, that his grandfather had the skills to not only make a living being, but he made it strong enough to be what could be considered a world wide threat, a threat so serious that the government was panicking about the secret project being revealed once more after it had been in suspended animation for **_fifty years._**

At that thought, he realized just how dangerous this 'Project Shadow' really was. Even though having a weapon of mass destruction at his side was vital to the human's dreams of world domination, he highly doubted that the living creature would simply cater to his every whim willingly when they just met. And going by that bloodthirsty look in the hedgehog's eyes, it was no wonder why the government tried so terribly to keep this monster hidden from humanity. At first, the creature had seemed distraught and panicked, but that quickly shifted to a frustrated awareness of his surroundings. Eggman assumed that the creature's long slumber had not been a pleasant one, and suddenly awakening to an entirely different world prior to what he remembered before the Space Colony ARK incident was definitely what confused and angered him. Did he think he was kidnapped? Did he assume the human standing right in front of him was an enemy, or an ally? It was hard to tell; the only readable expression that creature seemed to have was suspicion, and kept whatever else hidden.

Then, suddenly, after a silence that seemed to last for eternity, the black demon spoke in a voice that could be considered charmingly deadly. For a creature that was capable of making planets tremble, his voice was surprisingly smooth like velvet, deep like an abyss, and rich like dark chocolate, a mixture that most would find alluring, enough to make women shudder in slight arousal, but his anger blared past it all in a frustrated cry that turned quickly into a malicious growl, disturbing whatever serenity a calmer version would've driven out. Instead, he made the human's robots shriek in terror and rush to hide in Eggman's hover carrier made solely for his rather obese form.

"_**Human**_..." His eyes had flashed like a siren, and the doctor had quickly registered the warning. The creature was looking at him as if ready to slit his throat and tear him limb from limb in a frantic rage! But he did not expect it to disappear from sight in a blue blur much like Sonic would quickly zip away with the wind! And just as quickly, it had reappeared in front of him, abruptly grabbing his collar and aiming a charged beam of Chaos energy near the man's nose! Eggman had nearly screamed; his life could've been taken before he even knew what had happened. This 'Shadow' . . . It was cold and relentless, and yet had many abilities that Sonic had, plus more, and had a body much similar to Sonic's own stature. Were the two somehow connected? Shadow was almost like an evil version of Sonic the Hedgehog!

Maybe this was fate finally cracking down on the evil genius. After all, he planned on using this weapon to achieve world domination, but instead he was going to die at the hands of said weapon! A fitting end to the infamous terrorist. He had gone too far, sunk too deep, and there was no getting out of this one. He doubted any retaliation on his part could get him the littlest bit of time to escape with his life, nor could any means of persuasion possibly break through the clouds of unknown rage building up within the demonic creature. He knew it was inevitable at that moment and held his breathe, waiting for the final blow to come, and to open his eyes later and see Satan sneering at him in Hell. He waited, and he waited, and he waited, and yet he never felt that moment of pain, the shock of being hit by a large amount of raw Chaos energy. The waiting itself was becoming a slow torture; was this creature some kind of sadist, wanting instead to torture its victim until he _wanted_ to die? No, it was something much more serious.

He dared to crack his eyes open just slightly and peek at Shadow. He was far too astounded to speak or even breathe, because that demonic creature that once wanted nothing more than to slit his throat suddenly looked at him with blood-stained eyes filled with compassion. He looked as if he were suddenly recovering from a serious trauma, almost like a lost child finding its mother after so many long and painful years of searching. He looked as if he was trying not to cry, or restraining the urge to grab the human close in an embrace. Only one word came from the hedgehog's dry lips as he marveled at the human as if he knew him all of his life: " . . . Gerald?"

It was then that everything clicked in the elder's mind. The creation was not as cold-hearted as it tried to look. He became attached to his creator after those peaceful years on the ARK. Perhaps that gave Doctor Eggman an advantage after all. He doubted Shadow could think of killing a man that bore a resemblance to his former creator, especially if this victim just so happened to be his creator's grandson! With these thoughts in mind, he grinned widely and attempted to make casual conversation. "Close. That was fifty years ago." Indeed, that startled the hedgehog. He blinked in shock, looking at his surroundings in confusion and understanding that the human wasn't lying. Now the creature was willing to listen and cooperate. This was the perfect opportunity! "I'm his _grandson,_ Doctor Eggman Robotnik, and you must be his creation, Shadow. Now if you would be so kind as to let go of my-" The creature scoffed and did so without even hearing the rest of his sentence. Eggman yelped as his body suddenly caved to gravity and slammed into the hard tile floors. At least he released his throat, but that attitude was definitely becoming a pain in his backside.

"Are you okay, Doctor Eggman," the littlest robot Bokkun asked in worry, and then froze when blood red eyes focused on him.

_"Now_ I am, no thanks to you three imbeciles!" They cringed and looked at their creator with regretful eyes. The hover carrier they had been hiding in had plenty of weapons they could've used to hopefully distract or hit the midnight clad hedgehog in order to save Doctor Eggman before he was killed. How they never thought of it was a mystery.

"What happened to his granddaughter? You know something, don't you?" Ah, the young teenage blonde that had also been there in Space Colony ARK: Maria Robotnik. She had been a beautiful girl, both inside and out. Her grandfather spoke so gravely of her in those journals the government kept hidden, that is, until Eggman hacked into the main system. After that horrid event, the government had decided to close off any more transportation to that space station, but kept all of Gerald's journals about his secret weapon in their 'heavily secure' data base. Soldiers assumed that weapon was 'Project Shadow', the living creature that was later found sleeping in an escape pod that crashed onto Earth only a few hours after soldiers forcefully shut down the experiments in fear of Gerald using his weapon for world domination. Shadow had hurried to get Maria to safely, soldiers on their tails all the while, firing wild bullets at them. Maria had been the one to get Shadow to escape, but at a price so cruel it drove Gerald to insanity. To think that his sweet innocent granddaughter was killed . . .

Eggman knew what happened because the guilty culprit had been the one to tell Gerald while the accused mad scientist was placed in a cell on Prison Island, the very place Eggman had revived Shadow in! When Gerald found out, he plotted his revenge on humanity for slaying an angel. His online journals had his hinted plans, his hatred splashed all over the computer screens, his period of reckless frustration and sorrow for the events that brought him to utter turmoil out there for anyone to see. Eggman knew what happened, and also knew that if Shadow tried so hard to protect her back then, then the news of her death would have a similar effect on him as it did to Gerald. Nonetheless, he couldn't just stay silent; the beast would torture him to confession or simply kill him and find others to spill the beans. He didn't have the balls to lie to the ebony clad monster either. Those eyes were looking at the slightest waver in the elder's eyes, the littlest signs of guilt or worry before trying to give false information. Shadow was no fool. There was only one option then: tell him the truth. He deserved to know anyhow, Eggman assured himself.

"...It was a shot to the heart. She died instantly." His blood-splattered eyes grew wide in shock. Flashes of mixtures of emotions went by at frantic speed, never actually settling on one permanent feeling for a short time. His breathing was trying to stay calm and even, but he was failing. He looked angry, mad enough to tear through a large metal door with his bare hands, but also sad enough that Eggman pitied the creature. He looked like he was trying not to spill tears and hid his true emotion- eternal sorrow- behind a vicious rage. A terrifyingly low growl escaped from his lips. He was remembering that moment, that one second that destroyed everything he ever loved and cared about, whether he openly expressed that love to Maria and Gerald or not fifty years ago. He remembered the pained gasp she emitted when that piercing bullet shot through her heart and hit something in the corner of the emergency escape room. He was too focused on the brilliant shine in her sky blue eyes suddenly turning dim and vapid and the blood flowing from her collapsed corpse and soaking the tile floors to care about where the bullet went. She wasn't moving. She wasn't speaking. His horrified expression and his panicked cries fell upon death ears in that container as it fell to Earth. Even though she had died, she used the fading bit of her energy as she was shot to pull the lever, and Shadow was forced to realize that he had no one and nothing. He was a monster that never deserved it to those filthy humans that killed his beautiful Artemis. She protected him even though she was obviously the weaker candidate. She was his light that shined towards the path of happiness and love and contentment.

But he lost that light and the path he had been walking on.

"That's all I need to hear." He suddenly turned on his heel and left. No other words were exchanged except for Shadow's scoff at the robots cowering in the hover carrier as he walked past it. Eggman stared at him in silence, deeply regretting his actions thus far. When the creature walked far enough so that his footsteps couldn't be heard, a sudden explosion and screaming guards filled the quiet hallways. The human cursed under his breathe.

"I've created a monster."


	2. Chapter 2

_**In the Last Chapter:**_ Shadow left Prison Island remembering what the humans did to his beloved Maria. "That's all I needed to hear." Then, numerous explosions and dying cries of soldiers echo throughout the hallways! Has Shadow snapped after realizing his existence means nothing because he lost his only loved ones at the hands of the humans? Where is he going while in his moment of frustration?

* * *

She believed in him, even if the whole country had labeled her handsome blue hero a cold-blooded murderer.

The usually cheery and sweet rosy hedgehog was not in the mood to speak to anyone. While walking down the street, she heard what they were saying about him. She cut deadly glares in their directions, silencing them with the deadly flames burning behind her emerald irises. But as she walked farther away, to Chris's house, she knew they would start talking again, and make a few nasty comments about her and her Sonic. The sneezing that followed only confirmed her predictions. Her rage was obvious with just one glance at her frustrated face. She had had enough! How could the President say those things?! Sonic never even killed _Eggman,_ and yet every human on Earth swears that the cameras inside Prison Island showed Sonic snapping a soldier's neck and running off with three emeralds he stole from Prison Island. "It has to be an imposter framing my Sonikku! And I bet Eggman's involved in this too!' After all of the times Sonic saved this planet for the original inhabitants of Earth and helped them beat Eggman's many robots, and then they suddenly turn on him! They had been quick to praise him as a hero after saving them from Eggman the first time, and now they were just as quickly calling their hero a villain. Don't they know Sonic by now, after being on Earth for half a year!? "Ooh, the nerve of them!"

The only human being with a sane mind or working brain cells was Chris, but even he seemed to be faltering by what others were saying. He wanted so badly to believe in Sonic. Amy felt bad for him, and wanted to go back to his house to console him.

While heading down the path, she swore she saw a familiar blur run past her, but for reasons unknown, it just didn't _feel_ like it was Sonic that time. The color looked . . . **_different._** It wasn't the cobalt blue she remembered, but a bold ebony with hints of crimson . . . She merely laughed it off. She thought she was being silly; there's only one hedgehog who can run that fast and that was her amazing Sonikku! With that in mind, she beamed and eagerly called for her blue hero, but her eyes caught onto a nearby puff of smoke flying into the air. She stared at it in confusion; had it been in the sky a moment ago? She grew concerned as the cloud turned dark gray, then black like soot. She saw the flickers of roaring flames, at first small sparks, but then it turned into a radical fire that had people trapped in their buildings and screaming for help with agonized whimpers. Amy gasped, dropping her bags on the ground and immediately rushing towards the red and orange chaos a few miles ahead. What just happened to cause a big fire in only a few seconds?!

"Didn't Sonic just . . ." She froze abruptly as a thought entered her mind. It all made sense now! That blur that passed by her wasn't Sonic trying to escape the government's robots in an attempt to arrest him. That was the imposter! She immediately whipped out her cell phone and called the fire department, giving the location of the flames and then calling Chris about what happened. That eased the young boy, finally confirming that Sonic was indeed innocent. However, when he heard about the fire, he pointed out that it was close to his house!

"And the fire's spreading over here really fast!" Amy gasped in shock.

"But that's the direction the imposter went to! Chris! Warn Tails and Cream and Ellen and Mr. Tanaka to hide! The firefighters are on their way, so don't worry about the flames. I'm calling the police right now. Promise me you'll stay hidden."

"Okay, Amy, but . . . What about Sonic? The imposter is too strong for the police! Besides, they won't believe that there's an imposter! Everyone's so sure it was Sonic!"

"I'm sure that when Sonic sees this mess, he'll come running over here . . . I'll handle this until Sonic comes."

As expected, Chris gasped in shock and tried to tell her to think otherwise. He was worried about her, but wasn't he the one in a house about to catch on fire? Oh, the irony . . . "Wait! You can't be serious! You could get killed! Amy-"

_Click._

Honestly, what better option was there? They didn't have time to play with their thumbs right now either. She knew what she was getting into, but she was confident in her strength, or at least holding off this imposter until Sonic came to save the poor citizens that were in danger. She scowled at the flames ahead of her.

" . . . I have to do this, for Sonic's sake. I won't let this freak get away with impersonating my Sonikku and making him look like a criminal!" She growled, her hammer appearing in her hands in a burst of infuriated flames. She growled, flames of rage visible around her as she charged ahead to the raging flames. "I'll pulverize him!"

* * *

He watched it all unfold with that emotionless scowl on his face. While standing on top of a light pole, he amused himself by looking at his handiwork. A sickening satisfaction filled him as he heard the constant screams of agony and the shuffling of pieces of their homes falling apart. People were trapped inside, forced to suffer the wrath of the flames and the fiery it carried. His blood-soaked eyes looked dead, but inside, he was at his boiling point. "Now I get to watch you all suffer, just like how I saw her die right in front of me, and I couldn't do a thing to save her . . . " The flames were spreading to a garden farther off, where a rather large mansion resided. More people would suffer, just like he had. Now they all would know the pain they gave him when they killed his precious friend. His scowl grew more determined and serious as he gazed down at the windows of the small house, watching a woman trying to escape the flames with her infant hidden inside of her jacket. Futile. All of it was futile. "Maria, you **_will_** be avenged."

What he expected next was more weak humans coming and trying to douse the flames in a sorry attempt to save the people in the burning house. He did not expect a little pink dot to appear next to the light post he was standing on- and out of freaking nowhere, might I add- and holding a mallet as tall as she was! With one mighty swing and a battle cry, she swung that enormous mallet on the light post and knocked the ebony hedgehog down from it. He was quick to land on his feet, only to swiftly do a few flips backwards to dodge her onslaught of whacks and furious swings. He was utterly astounded, but mostly confused by her sudden appearance and how she easily found his hiding spot. How could she even think of challenging him, the Ultimate Life Form? She must have a death wish. The thought of a challenge sounded quite amusing, but so far, she couldn't even hit him, not with his speed and agility, and yet she pushed onward, not even wearing out from carrying that thing and swinging it around as if it were light weight.

She looked utterly pissed off! Although frail-looking, she could somehow hold up that heavy hammer with her little thin arms. How she was so capable of doing so was an amusing mystery to him. And that obvious snarl coming out of the little girl's mouth seemed out of character for such a seemingly weak creature. For crying out loud, she was _**pink!**_ And a woman, on top of that. That little female couldn't possibly think that she'd beat a creation of mass destruction with the way she was sloppily swinging that mallet. It would take much more effort, agility and cunning to beat him. Obviously, she was trying to stop his madness with what little power she had, but he refused to let some little girl stop his plans.

It was time to finally take the offensive. He had had enough of playing cat-and-mouse, or at least playing the role of a mouse. He skidded to a halt on the ground, his hover skates sending dust in the air as he crouched down low, and then charged straight towards her with a speed that matched Sonic's. His fist was ready for a critical hit either in her gut or right in the face. She narrowed her eyes and swung her hammer upward, blocking the blow to the face he had tried to throw in and knocking his hand back. He took one step back in alert; for a little girl, she was quite strong and not as naive as he thought. He was impressed, for the most part, and placed a hand over her swinging mallet to save himself from what could've been the worst head concussion any being could possibly get. And now she suddenly seemed so defenseless, unable to pry it out of his grip even as he weighed it downward with just one finger. He smirked in triumph. This game was at its end, but it had been rather amusing while it lasted.

" . . . I assume that you're not exactly happy with my means of having _**fun."**_

**"Damn**** right!"** He scowled a little at that. He hadn't expected her to have such a foul tongue either. Did she even know who she was talking to like that? "Just what is your problem anyways? Do you get your kicks out of impersonating my Sonic to make him look like some cold-blooded murderer!?" What was she, his lover? Or just a deluded fangirl in love with his image? He hardly cared for such details, but as far as this 'impersonation' accusation goes, he was clueless on what she meant. Did he look like this 'Sonic' character, or was he just a Faker that longed to be as powerful as the feared Ultimate Life Form? Probably both, he figured with pride, but also irritated at the idea of someone looking like him, getting them both twisted. Oh well. At least he'd get away scotch-free without getting in trouble; this Faker would take his responsibility instead, the idiotic humans. That just makes his killing spree much easier.

" . . . Never heard of him, and frankly, I don't care for the details." He pressed her hammer lower to the ground, and she still couldn't break it from his hold. She was going to either cry or run away in shame, going by the obvious signs of struggling and conflicting in her eyes. Stupid little girl should've known better. He held no pity or reluctance for her. She knew she was weaker by now, and not nearly as fast. She had no hopes of defeating this guy. He leaned forward to intimidate her more, sneering at her. That was one of his favorite games, after all. "What? Is this all you have in you? It was just getting interesting." Up close, though, he noted the little details that seemed to stand out for all to see: the nervous sweat rolling down her cheeks, the wavering confidence in her emerald green jewels that were her eyes, the fact that her hands were getting looser on her weapon at how close he was, and was that a blush on her cheeks? It wasn't frustrated as much as embarrassed and- . . . Her eyes were staring at him a little too much all of a sudden. He guessed that upon closer inspection, she could see just how different he looked from that Faker Sonic, and was taking in his features. _Enjoying_ his features seemed more of the case, going by how her googly eyes locked on his blood ruby eyes and noted the velvety rich dark chocolate notes his voice omitted as he spoke. Yes, even the deadly creature realized his own charmingly toxic features that lured in his bait. It made him seem too sexy to be legal, and yet because it was illegal, women fawned over his dark and criminal looks that mixed well with a dashing young gentleman-like voice. Irresistible charm in a dangerous package not meant for anyone, but they didn't care for the warnings after taking in the sound of his soothing voice. As seductive as a Siren, and then he'd open his mouth and draw them in before eradicating them all. It made his work much easier, especially now that her guard was dropped, now that she was a little distracted. He emitted an amused scoff. "Hmph. Don't tell me you're checking me out." And now she was back to being angry and focused. No more drooling over his god-like beauty for such a demonic beast.

"Don't even flatter yourself. My heart belongs to my Sonikku, and no one can replace him." She seemed so confident as she glared at him, but he doubted she was as sure as she let on. After all, she had checked him out just a second ago. He brought it to her attention, using a little more allure and honey on his tongue as he spoke just to tease her and torture the girl some more.

"Your heart just faltered at my mercy a moment ago. Perhaps your so-called love for that Faker isn't as strong as you want to believe." As punishment, he flicked her on her forehead with that smirk sketched on his muzzle, causing her to wince and whine in pain.

"Ow!" What was it about teasing this girl that suddenly seemed more amusing than watching the humans in the house burn? Perhaps it was the simple pleasure of seeing her fume, or toying with her naive little mind and secretly tormenting her with uncertainties and doubt. He couldn't help liking the little sparks within her that could quickly set ablaze like a raging fire, or the confidence she had for a supposedly one-sided romance. It proved she was a strong young female in both her fearsome mallet-swinging and her will. He wouldn't admit it out loud, of course, but she was quite strong for a female, and determined, which were two alluring factors about this girl. The sad thing was that he hadn't had the pleasure of knowing her name, or telling her _his_ name so that this little affair would be forever sown into their minds.

"The name's Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog, and I can assure you that I'm no Sonic." He saw her eyes cutting to the fire in front of them. A part of him was annoyed at how he was suddenly ignored, despite a dangerous weapon of mass destruction staring her in the face. But she was concerned for the people inside now, after so much time had passed. Just where were the firefighters at!? Those people inside were going to die at this rate! She scowled in determination, and then all concerns for this Shadow character were thrown out the window.

"I already knew that." She suddenly found a strength beyond his comprehension and lifted her hammer high into the air, knocking it from his grasp out of nowhere. She carried it over her shoulder as if it were a light package. She hadn't been able to do that before; what gave her that newfound strength all of a sudden? He narrowed his eyes at her retreating form rushing off, like he assumed she would do. That actually disappointed him; he had believed she was stronger, better, than those who would run away when it all seemed bleak. She didn't appear to be someone who would give up that easily, but then again, she was just a child. But when he noticed just where she was going, he had all of his attention focused on her in disbelief. She was going into that burning house. With no fire equipment.

Was she trying to kill herself?

"You're a fool." He questioned this strange girl; how does she go from infuriated to suspicious to confident, and then ignores her opponent on the battlefield? It was an insult to him, as if she simply brushed off the fact that he obviously would've won that fight. Was she making an excuse to run away? Was she being the coward he assumed she would've been after all? She stopped in front of that house, and he smirked, assuming that she was admitting defeat, or her lack of motivation to continue a lost battle. But instead, he was the one left dumbfounded.

"I'd be a bigger fool to let them suffer any longer." He grew silent at her words as she swung her mallet to make an entrance and leaped in with no hesitation. He watched her go in, wondering why she even cared about those humans. They were too weak to protect themselves, but used their own weaknesses against each other as a means of control and domination. He knew that when his family had been torn apart. He knew they were selfish and sadistic beings when they shot innocent Maria when she did nothing to harm those soldiers. Heck, they even assumed that her 'Sonikku' was the criminal mastermind when the real culprit looked nothing like him! They were foolish inferior creatures that fed off of each other to live on. Why then would she feel any need to help them?

But her compassion reminded him of someone special . . .

She was ruining his plans, he realized, and groaned in irritation. He let some little pink female deter him from his true goal. He got distracted so easily by her; has the ultimate weapon grown soft after witnessing his family's demise? Perhaps it was true, since his emotions were the biggest limitations to being the true weapon of mass destruction. His ears twitched when he swore he heard something. A loud crash emitted from the wall and suddenly it crumbled, revealing a slightly burned and scarred pink hedgehog and the three humans that had been trapped inside. She guided them to the mansion on the other side, noting suddenly that the firefighters had arrived there first and stopped the spreading fire from reaching the house. The rescued humans thanked her greatly and rushed to that direction, but not before remembering to get their crying infant from within her bosom. She wiped away the sweat from her forehead and smiled at them, happy that they were alright. She seemed greatly relieved and confident again as she twirled her hammer in her hand with ease.

"Who's the fool now?" And now she was attempting to beat him with smart talk. He scoffed, not really in the mood for that kind of game.

" . . . Why did you even bother with them?" He still didn't understand her. Was she trying to gain something from them? But it didn't look like they gave her anything for saving them. She looked up at him with a scowl.

"Of course you'd ask that, since you were the one who set their house on fire."

"I could care less for those disgusting humans." She froze in the middle of twirling her mallet like a baton to stare at him in the eyes for answers. He was unreadable for the most part, but she knew he had a deep malice towards humans for some reason. Just what happened to him that made him hate humans so much? She almost pitied him; she knew that he wasn't that bad after noting a flicker of pain in his eyes from some unwanted memory. The poor thing, she thought, and her feet began to carry her forward towards him. She was compelled to do something or say something to console the scar buried deep within his heart. It was a large wound that took its toll even at that moment, and she figured who else to mend it but her, since he seemed to open up to her a little when they were supposed to be enemies.

His eyes immediately set on hers, expecting her to fight him again or try to put his guard down for a cheap shot. He wouldn't fall for her tricks.

_If it is a trick, then why do her eyes look so concerned and sincere?_


	3. Chapter 3

_**In the Last Chapter:**_ Shadow tried to burn down a house as his first act of vengeance on humanity, but Amy saves the people inside. She attempts to get closer to him, trying to understand him, but he's reluctant to let her in. _If it is a trick, then why do her eyes look so concerned and sincere?_

* * *

" . . . Why do you hate humans so much?"

"That's none of your concern." She expected him to push her away, so she didn't look the least bit startled by his unwillingness to talk to her. She _did_ ruin his plans to burn those people in the house into a crisp. Though she wondered why he didn't try to stop her, or even personally beat the humans to a pulp when they ran for shelter at the Thorndike residence close by. If he really hated humans, then why did he stand there and let them go? She wanted him to stay so she could ask him more questions, but he suddenly turned to leave. His back was facing her, and she couldn't read his thoughts through his expressions and body language. "I have other more important matters to attend to." He could vanquish all of the humans at another time, in a more efficient way. He suddenly remembered that he had to go back to his earlier mission in order to make that happen.

And with that, he used his hover skates to get away. He hadn't actually expected her to call him back, pleading for him to turn around. "Wait! Shadow!" Her hand reached out as if to grab him even though he was already gone with the wind, just like Sonic. She sighed regretfully. She just needed to talk to him, make him open up a little more. She hoped that she could somehow reach him. Maybe his hatred towards humans had something to do with his past. Maybe she could save him from the darkness within himself, or help him realize that not all humans were to blame for the mistakes of the few.

This was getting ridiculous; weren't they supposed to be enemies? Then why did she look like she actually cared about him back there? He was strangely compelled to turn around or stop and make her explain herself. She had been infuriated with him before and immediately jumped into a battle with him, started checking him out later on, and now she was concerned. None of that seemed to click in his mind; just how did her brain work? It must be malfunctioning, the stupid girl.

Still didn't know her name . . .

He scoffed and kept going, checking his newly given watch for the next location. Her name wasn't important anyways. The screen had a grid layout of Station Square, and the top left corner had a blinking red dot, along with the mansion he had been near when meeting that pink hedgehog. He'd go back there for the goods later. For now, the biggest priority was going to the mountains and back to the rendezvous point after retrieving the artifact. Then they'd have six in all. His goal was already close to being completed thanks to his little alliance.

"Soon, Gerald, we will finally have our sweet rengence."

* * *

"Amy~!" Immediately, the pink hedgehog looked back to see the real blue hero racing to her side. He skidded to a halt to take a breather. He was panting heavily, a sight that was unusual for the frequently racing hedgehog. She looked at him in worry, but her eyes seemed to cut right back to where Shadow disappeared to. But she dropped her thoughts on him quickly. She could deal with that later; her Sonic was always first priority.

"Is it really that bad out there?" He panted a little while longer before nodding his head. He wiped the sweat from his brow.

"It's worse than Eggman! When I think they're gone, there's twenty more on my backside! I gotta find the guy who's framing me before this gets out of hand. Did you see a guy like me around here?"

Saw him? She _**fought**_ him by **_herself,_** and cursed at him, and apparently, she had been checking him out too. But she seemed reluctant to give that information. Why? Sonic of all people had the right to know about Shadow. Maybe she didn't want Sonic to think that Shadow was a threat to his lovely Amy Rose he adored so much. Or perhaps she didn't want Sonic to know how her usually unswayed heart faltered for a moment when she looked at the other male, and Sonic's imposter at that! Well, she couldn't deny that he wasn't too bad looking- she had perfectly functioning eyes and a well-working brain- but Sonic always had a place in her heart.

And then he noticed just how battered up she looked.

Did she ever consider while thinking to herself and staying silent that he would eventually see the sweat glistening from her pink fur, or the cuts on her body, or the occasional burn either on her dress or on her hands? He blinked in shock at her scars and burns before narrowing his eyes at her in all seriousness. "He was here, wasn't he?" She froze at that stare. He didn't like the idea of this imposter hurting her while looking just like him. He didn't like the idea of her getting hurt in general. She didn't want to lie to him; he was concerned after all. However, that stare made her feel utterly guilt of some sort of crime.

"Sonic-" He had cut her off, wanting a direct answer from her. He didn't want her to lie about what happened. He didn't want her to hide anything that was too important. He wanted to know that she trusted him, that she had no reasons to walk around the truth when it came to him, even a little. If she ever did, then he would have failed as a hero, as a friend, because she didn't believe that he could help her.

"Did he hurt you?" First priority on his mind was knowing just what that bastard did to her when she had no one else to protect her. He dreaded the images forming in his mind when he saw the burns. He looked straight into her eyes, making sure that she wasn't lying. In actuality, that only made her blush more and her anxiety practically tripled. She couldn't really keep staring in his eyes while she was like that anyways. She couldn't help it though; he was acting so protective and caring about her. It was making her heart race.

"No, a house was on fire. The firemen were too busy stopping the fire from getting to Chris's house to save them, so I had to save the people inside somehow. That's why my dress is a little burnt." Much more was burnt than a mere dress, but that made sense, especially when he saw the pile of burned wood and rubble nearby that should've been a house. "I told them to take refuge at Chris's place until we figure out what to do." She hadn't lied to him, which greatly relieved him.

But she didn't say anything about running into Shadow . . .

He sighed and gave her a reassuring smile. "Alright, Ames. You know I was just worried about you, right?" She blushed even more and smiled at that. He was worried about Lil Ol' Amy Rose! It made her heart flutter in happiness. She nodded rather happily and he smiled. She seemed back to her usually cheerful self, which was a good sign. "Get some rest at Chris's house, okay? Thanks for your help. I guess I ran a little late on the job because of the police and the robots, but that's why I have you guys. I can always count on you." She beamed happily, her eyes practically sparkling with overwhelming glee. She felt like he saw her as something much more important to the team now after her own act of heroism. He complimented her and congratulated her with that proud and thankful smile. Oh, how happy he looked when he saw his lovely Rose fulfilling the role he didn't get the chance to do. She felt appreciated for once. It warmed her heart to the ends of the earth and the tips of the skies!

"O-Okay, Sonic. Thanks. I really appreciate that." She giggled a little and rubbed her elbow bashfully. "I-I guess I should get going now. I'll see you later."

"Oh, and Amy?" Whenever he dropped the nickname, she knew it was something serious. She looked back at him in confusion.

"Yeah, Sonic?"

"Who set the house on fire?" Her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. She thought she wouldn't have to mention him, but it was inevitable in the end, huh?

"It must've been that other guy pretending to be you, but I didn't get to see him." He failed to notice how the speed of her words slowed slightly when her lie began. He scowled and looked around for any clues on where he could've went. He saw none, so he'd just have to look everywhere.

"Thought so. I'm gonna end this soon, just you wait. I know you've heard the news, but at least you're not being fooled. Tell Chris and the others to keep believing in me, like you always do." She would've smiled as bright as the Sun, or even double that, but she felt too ashamed to do so. She had lied to him about where Shadow went. She lied about seeing him. She didn't tell him that she tried to fight him herself. Did she really believe in her hero? The way she was acting, even Amy Rose was beginning to doubt that. Ever since this Shadow guy showed up, she was losing her grip on things. She merely gave a sad smile and turned to go to Chris's house. Sonic had figured she was blushing again and wanted to hide it. A foolish mistake, but he was focused more on finding the real culprit, and so he left in a blue blur.

She sighed regretfully and headed back, ashamed and doubtful.

* * *

It was getting late, and Sonic was starting to believe that he'd never find that culprit, or at least not that particular day. He stopped walking near a dimly lit street, wondering where else he should look. Out of leads, out of options . . . and out of gas. His stomach started growling. He chuckled a little; he was so busy searching and running from the police that he forgot to grab something to eat. He needed a chili dog, or maybe a Cuban sandwich. He could feel his mouth watering at just the mental images of everything. Maybe a cheeseburger and a diet coke. Or maybe some pizza, with plenty of boneless wings and that stuffed crust he really liked.

_Yeah, that would really hit the spot right about now . . ._

But cruel reality slapped him in the face, and he scowled. "No one's going to let me walk into a restaurant without screaming and calling the police though. And I'm on the other side of town from Chris's house! This imposter's really screwed up a lot of things today."

"_**You mad, bro?"**_

Sonic blinked and noted a glowing light on top of a speed limit sign, and suddenly a black hedgehog appeared in that spot! He smirked at Sonic's shocked and irritated expression. "So you're this Sonic character that everyone's confusing me with? How pathetic; I'm clearly much different from you, and the better looking one." Sonic's eyes twitched a little at that. He was overconfident, conceited and a little too witty with his taunts.

Why did he remind Sonic of himself?

"So you're the guy pretending to be me. You damn Faker!" He immediately leaped to send a sharp kick to the imposter, but he disappeared! It looked like he had been holding a Chaos Emerald in his hands. And did he just say 'Chaos Control'!? "But that's impossible! How can he induce Chaos Control with only one emerald?" A mocking laughter echoed from the skies, and then an equally humiliating voice pointed out his location.

"Up here, slow mo."

"I'll show you slow!" He used his speed to upscale the building no problem. He did one large and final leap to the top, ready to punch this imposter in the jaw, but he disappeared again. Sonic scowled deeper and turned around, seeing a black and red dot on top of a building close by, but much taller. "You're only teleporting because of Chaos Control! Who are you to talk?"

"But you aren't capable of doing Chaos Control with one emerald. That only proves that I am truly the Ultimate Life Form." He sneered in triumph at the blue hedgehog's following silence and awkward sky gazing. He knew he was right. "But while I'm here, I'd like to see just how you can compare to the real thing." Sonic smirked a little, more than eager for a little sparing game. Was he finally going to get serious and stop running?

"Real? Ha! There's only room for one speedy hedgehog here, and I already claimed that title, so go pack your bags, Faker." Instead of seeing the ebony hedgehog scowl at the remark, he only scoffed and smirked wider.

"I don't intend to leave, and I doubt your little pink girlfriend would want me to either." His eyes grew wide in shock, and then narrowed in suspicion and disbelief. He knew about Amy? But she told him that she didn't get to see him when she saw the burning house. She couldn't have actually lied about that; why would she? He thought she trusted him more as a friend and a hero. Was that a lie too? He was awfully quiet and confused, which amused the ebony hedgehog more. He had the upper hand now. He could easily weaken his opponent with just his words. He reappeared in front of the puzzled Sonic, making no move to attack. He was enjoying the mental torture game more. "She had the gall to try and fight me. _Me,_ Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate creation. Quite an interesting girl you have. It'd be a shame if she were to have her little neck **_snapped."_**

And then _Sonic_ snapped!

"If you even **try** to hurt her!" Sonic had quickly reached a boiling point, something not many people witness in their lifetime. This was, after all, the usually cool and calm blue hedgehog that rarely ever got mad unless it was something serious, much less _raging_ mad. And to think it took messing with that little pink female to really push him over the edge. This little finding made Shadow snicker a little. He was quick to avoid getting his own neck snapped by an infuriated hero and leaped out of the way. He shrugged carelessly.

"Now, why would I do that?" He pretended to think for a moment before scowling as if upset about something. "Then again, she did get in the way of me burning those pathetic humans to death. She ruined my fun." A rather excited smirk suddenly grew over his muzzle. He chuckled. "Some sort of punishment must be given."

_That sick bastard!_

And much to Shadow's growing surprise, the cobalt hedgehog was starting to have a black aura around him. And why the hell did his emerald pupils disappear!? He seemed to be breathing strangely, almost snarling like a blinded wild animal. This certainly didn't look like the Sonic Shadow assumed him to be. This version seemed more dark, and driven by raging emotions. He was emitting a horrfyingly evil aura for a hero. "Over my dead body!"

"Is that a challenge?" He merely smirked as the blue hedgehog launched himself at him at a speed that seemed much faster than earlier. It almost seemed as if Sonic was really trying to kill him, putting in every effort and bit of energy he had into beating the imposter into a pulp to protect Amy. This seemed to be harder, which tested the life form's strength and agility with a foe that was close to matching his own status in power. "I'll take that as a yes."

_Oh, then this will be fun indeed . . ._


	4. Chapter 4

_**In the Last Chapter:**_ Sonic finally runs into Shadow! He's not happy to know that Amy lied about running into Shadow, and he gets enraged when Shadow says he might snap her neck or punish her after she interfered with his earlier arsoning! In his fit of rage, Dark Sonic is on the brink of taking over to protect Amy. Who will win the fight between two very similarly strong hedgehogs?!

* * *

It had been easy, to say the least. He had been flinging his limbs so blindly that he left plenty of openings. A few kicks and punches to the gut and a good pummeling cooled his jets long enough for Shadow to send the final blow to the head, knocking him out before he made the petty fight last any longer. To be frank, the pink girl had put up more of a fight with her perseverance in her bold attitude and her retaliations against his constant taunts; the Faker had been fighting so blindly that there was barely anything to enjoy in the challenge, except for his sudden rage that seemed so foreign for the usually cool and relaxed hero. That didn't look like a hero just then, not with the way Sonic tried to kill him like a crazed animal.

Oh well, he figured with a shrug, quickly dismissing that subject. The fool had been caught by policemen and sent to the heavily-secured and recently highly upgraded Prison Island after Shadow's break out, and after stealing the three Chaos Emeralds that had been inside. Now he had not three, but **_six!_**

_So close and yet so far._

Just one more Emerald and he'll finally achieve his goal. He could get revenge on all of those disgusting humans after the death of his beloved Maria. She'd finally rest in peace. Although, he couldn't help getting sidetracked by the view of this strange new world. After all, he had always looked down at the big planet from a window on Space Colony ARK alongside the blonde human girl. She had wished to go there one day and see that place together, and he promised her that. He remembered her excited and joyful smile that had an infectious way of calming him down. He could relax and found himself contently smirking once in a while while enjoying sweet nothings with her. She was so positive and cheerful, always caring about him even when the other scientists inside never gave him a glance that had meaning like that. She was the only one to _really_ look at him when he was still in that tube for further testing, surrounded by a strange green liquid and breathing from a strange pipe while his pores soaked in every drop of the liquid around him. He remembered her staring at him with big innocent blue eyes and waving at him with a little smile. She caught his curiosity, and when he was released from all of his tests, he found himself frequently standing beside her, usually saying nothing at all, and yet she enjoyed his company. She could talk for hours about how she wanted to go to Earth, or about her dreams of going down there and making little children smile. Such a seraphic soul. It was much different from any other, and so he preferred her simplistic talk and silly dreams that somehow made even his supposedly cold heart move just slightly. Because she wanted nothing more than to be free, and to be happier on Earth, and then spread that happiness. Those little things were all she ever wanted, and that astounded him.

And then he remembered the pink one.

He cursed himself for not knowing her name, but when he had mentioned the girl to that Faker Sonic, he had muttered a simple yet beautiful name he couldn't forget: Amy. Amy Rose, he later found out from that ivory bat that suddenly waltzed in, swaying her hips and trying to distract him with her winks and twirls. She was too suspicious with her constant flirting trying to deter him from his goals; even Eggman's robots tried to tell him not to join her because she was a double-crosser. He saw her mainly as an obstacle, an annoyance, so he resented her somewhat, but she was essential to the Doctor in some way, so he had to deal with it. It was all for sweet revenge, after all, but because he couldn't trust her, he'd have to keep an eye on her. And that's probably what she wanted too, going by how she always had a little too much shake in her hips when she walked in front of him, emphasizing her toned legs and luscious rear end in her jumpsuit. He groaned in annoyance; this woman was actually succeeding in making him want to shoot himself.

"So there's apparently something else in here besides the Emeralds that the Doctor wants?" It was strange to find himself standing in front of that place again, the place he had been sleeping inside of for fifty years, unknown to him. Then Eggman releasing him and him breaking out with the Chaos Emeralds . . . He had strange and somewhat irritating memories here, to say the least, but it was thanks to that fat ass that he'd get the chance to give Maria her justice. This was where the Earth's demise was signed and sealed. This was where his resurrection began, and where his Faker would perish.

Rouge looked at him with her constant smirk and half-closed eyelids before shrugging carelessly. "Sonic in here as a prisoner is one thing, but that's not why we're here. We break in, you plant the bomb, and Eggman promised to help you find a little secret journal from your old girlfriend if you could blow up Big Blue." That surprised him, to say the least; the Doctor never mentioned his reasons for bringing them there if it were just to plant a simple bomb. He could've done that just fine himself, so it had already perplexed Shadow that they were even there. Now he had his answer. And the fact that Eggman knew this place had Maria's journal was also a shocker. Why did he feel the need to give him her journal? Whatever she would've said back then or asked for was dead now due to time and her tragic end. He was brought out of his thoughts when Rouge pointed a thumb at herself all of a sudden. "It's my job to find it for him so he can show you it when we go to Space Colony Ark. I have to hack into the mainframe and get it all on this little disk here." She pulled out a little CD from her breasts, which made him roll his eyes and scowl more. She didn't have pockets so it'd have to go there, but he hated the idea of Maria's thoughts and last known words being within a disk that had been resting between some strange bat's bongos. It was practically insulting to the blonde girl's memory.

" . . . I still don't get what's your gain in this alliance of yours. I have yet to see any real reason for you to help a terrorist." She smirked wider, an implied mischievous intent that made him even more unsettled and irritated. He knew she was up to no good, and she made it so obvious, but her attempts to use her body language to allure and distract him was suffocating him in frustration. He certainly did not need to be distracted right now.

"No sense in trying to, Hun. I just needed to have some fun, and this is _definitely_ going to be fun." He smirked a little, agreeing for once with her words and finding a stable middle ground somewhere. Eggman would be talking to him from his watch, and he could speak to Rouge from their walkie-talkies in case something goes wrong. Everything was in order, and it was time to give this place one more surprise visit.

And then the strangest thing happened.

**"Oh, Sonic! I found you!"** _Glomp._

He froze, his eyes opening wide in complete shock and confusion before turning to anger at his invaded privacy. But his ears had picked up a familiar voice, and then he settled back down to a smirk. It was hard to forget the one who had jumped into a fight with him out of nowhere and challenged him like that, and was even able to surprise him by dropping her fight to help out those pathetic humans, something he still didn't understand about her. Her compassion reminded him of Maria, and even the warmth radiating from her body clinging to his back felt so alike. Putting that aside, her obvious mistake instantly caught his attention overall. He almost wanted to laugh aloud and startle her into humiliation at her mistake- hadn't she been the one to claim that she knew he was no Sonic?- but he decided to say quiet instead and relish in her surprisingly warm hold-

_What the hell?_

He slapped that thought away quickly, now upset at himself for thinking of such stupid things. The hug was meant for her darling 'Sonikku', not him. Amy Rose was giving a bloodthirsty weapon of mass destruction a surprise hug from behind like a blind fool. She thought he was Sonic? How in the hell did she end up making the same mistake the other fools made even after already meeting Shadow for who he was?

_Stupid girl._

" . . . Wait a minute-" She gasped all of a sudden, and his smirk grew wider as he imagined her horrified face when everything clicked. His unresponsiveness, the ivory bat smirking at her with a look that told the young girl she had walked into the lion's den with raw meat strapped around her body. Sonic would never work with Rouge, of course. And then she realized whoever she leaped on wasn't Sonic. Who else could possibly- . . .

She knew, but didn't want to admit it to herself. She wasn't supposed to make the same mistake the other fools made. She was _supposed_ to be the girl who knew her hero better than anyone, and couldn't possibly confuse him with anyone or anything, especially not **_this_** guy!

"Oh my gosh!" She immediately leaped off of him, unlatching and nearly shoving him away as she ran backwards a few feet. He slowly straightened up, cracked his head to the side for that satisfying pop from his lazy bones, and then turned his head just slightly and gave her a mocking smirk. She froze as everything crumbled around her; Sonic must still be locked up, and that meant she was alone with a similarly strong Faker and that no-good jewel thief Rouge. Her hero couldn't save her this time. Two against one, and with two fiercer competitors, one she easily lost to before . . .

"You just can't seem to stay away from me, huh, Rose?" She blinked in shock at her last name being spoken. Funny how she never remembered telling him her name. Putting that aside, he had turned around fully to face her, and was even taking steps forward with a smirk that sent cold chills down her spine. What was he going to do? She didn't trust that look in his blood red eyes glowing with some terrible intent. He was waving Rouge off. "You do your part; I'll handle the small fry." The frightened pink hedgehog took a step back, knowing there was no real way she could fight them both victoriously, let alone the ebony creation. The bat merely smirked and flew inside first, wasting no time with her assigned duties.

And now she was alone, with **_him._**

He seemed amused by her growing fear evident in her eyes. She was quick to cover it with her known fury and scowled at him. "S-Stay away from me! I didn't come here for you!" She was quick to whip out her gigantic mallet from practically nowhere, but it didn't compare to how quickly he appeared behind her. His hand reached over her shoulder and held her other hand holding her weapon in the air, ceasing her swing and making her tremble at his sudden touch. He smirked and leaned over her shoulder, whispering into her ear.

"Shouldn't you have learned by now, stupid girl?" He noted how they twitched at the sound of his voice and her shivering before she jolted away with a shrill cry of surprise. And he watched her race off towards the entrance, probably trying to save her precious Sonic, and to also get away from him. But this game was getting fun.

Much too fun.

"And where do think you're going?" He chuckled; the intimidation game was always fun to play. He went after her through the hallways, minding his speed to make sure it matched hers; after all, a chase wouldn't as fun if he used his real super speed to instantly catch her. _This_ game of cat-and-mouse would be much different from last time, when she suddenly pounced to attack him and left him on the defensive. This time, he'd have his fun torturing and playing with his prey before crushing it underneath his fingertips. Just like the Faker, but this would be much sweeter to savor.

At some point, her foot had blindly passed by a security laser, triggering the alarms and making all cameras lock on the two intruders. Shadow wasted no time spindashing into the cameras before the machines even got a look at them, but the robots would already be on their hides, trying to find whatever rat that slipped in here. Well, that would only add seasoning to the mix of excitement flowing through his veins. He landed in front of a panicked pink hedgehog with a mischievous smirk. She didn't look the least bit happy about this outcome. She would resort to anger and snap on him again, he figured, and he was certainly right.

"Just leave me alone! I have bigger things to worry about! I don't care about what you're up to!" She hadn't taken out her hammer yet, which meant she didn't care for a fight at the moment. Too bad, because she should know to have it out when facing an enemy.

"Well, I certainly do; what _you're_ trying to accomplish would interfere with what _I'm_ trying to accomplish, and I can't have that, now, can I?" She frowned at his persistence, which was quite ironic, considering how she had been persistent to win Sonic's heart for so many years. He smirked wider and lifted up something that made her eyes pop out of her sockets: a red Chaos Emerald! He suddenly grabbed her arm, startling her to a surprised gasp, and said the words that encrypted her doom.

"Chaos Control!"

* * *

"I almos feel bad for her. Almost." She smirked at her own comment and strolled inside as if it were her own house. The cameras inside eyed her curiously, moving along with her easy stroll as she headed down a few hallways before she was out of their line of vision. Then another camera would see her walking, and another, until she was standing in front of a security room. She knocked on it a few times, then crossed her arms and waited patiently while listening to the soft snoring of some lazy guard inside. She rolled her eyes when her knocking interrupted his sweet daydreaming, causing the man inside to jump and shout in surprise before he finally acknowledged that someone had knocked on the door to his security room. He groaned as he stretched, and then he yawned rather obnoxiously before leaping out of his chair and strolling to the door. A soft click as he unlocked it, and then the doorknob turned slowly, revealing a redhead with prickly hairs still on his chin, and a few droplets of his coffee still on his lips.

"Look, Ron. Ya had me waitin' here for yer break ta be over fer over an hour now, and I swear I outta-" He paused in the middle of his complaint as his tired and cranky eyes opened to see no one there. He blinked and looked down further to the ground at a familiar white bat. Wide awake at that moment, he beamed happily and put up a less grouchy facade that only amused her more. "Oh, Agent Rouge! You came for that journal and other files from Professor Gerald Robotnik's data-bank that might be related to Project Shadow, right? Come on in!"

"Right, Hun, and don't worry. I won't tell anyone about how you were slacking off when you're supposed to be watching Big Blue in his comfy little cell." The man cringed and tried to laugh it off while rubbing the back of his neck in guilty anxiety. She strolled by him and stood in front of one of the screens out of many, watching the cameras that showed nothing strange happening, although two of them looked like they were either broken or destroyed. She smirked; probably Shadow getting down to business. She pulled out her disk from within her jumpsuit and showed it to the tired man. "I wanted to burn the information onto this disk and bring it to the President right away. So where's the info?"

"Ready to be synced when you come in. It's on that computer in the corner."

"Thanks for the help, handsome, but let me just look into this before I report anything to the President." She looked through the files curiously, only to instantly get a little bored when she ran by a bunch of revenge documents from Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather, no doubt. She almost laughed at the irony. "There's both crazy; go figure . . ."

"What was that?" The man turned around from the security camera screens to look at her curiously. She waved it off.

"It's nothin', Hun." He shrugged and took a sip of his cold coffee, grimaced, but continued to drink some more as he stared at the dull cameras. He eyed the two that looked broken for a moment before calling someone on the phone. He waited a moment before that someone spoke.

**"What is it now, you lazy scumbag!?"** Rouge arched an eybrow at the man howling into the phone loud enough for her big ears to clearly hear. She scowled in distaste; well, wasn't he _pleasant?_

"Two cameras in Sector 5 are down for some reason. Can you send a guard to go check it out?"

"Well, maybe if you had been awake instead a sleepin' like a crybaby, you'd know what happened, huh!?" She could barely keep herself from listening in, mostly because that even more grouchy man on the phone was so loud, she would lose her concentration while trying to read a rather suspicious article on some kind of Ultimate Life Form they were trying to create. No doubt they were talking about 'Project Shadow', that strange ebony hedgehog that was working for Eggman. Nevertheless, she managed somehow. While experimenting, the scientist in charge of the creation called the project 'Project Shadow'. So many physical assets, emotional assets and evaluations on his progress every day flashed over the computer. She was stunned at it all, but refused to read it. Instead, she finally found a journal page written by a girl named Maria. It was there for Eggman, but as for her other assignment, she went back to the piles of info. Apparently, there were a few data pages on an Eclipse Cannon, and every strength and weakness Shadow had! His inhibitor rings, for instance, were created to limit his power because his body was still unstable. With them on, it would prevent him from using too much power at once and collapsing from overexhaustion and fatigue.

" . . . I just made the scoop of the century." She smirked wide with confidence and success clear across her face as she quickly burned the files into the disk and got up. "Perfect. The President will definitely give me plenty of jewels after he sees what I found out." She beamed as she looked over at the cameras. They haven't been caught yet, thank goodness, but Shadow didn't call about setting the bomb yet. This puzzled her, and she scowled a little in worry. And then she scowled at herself. Worried? Why on Earth would she worry about that guy? He never even gave her a glance, not unless it was to keep glaring at her as always, the creep.

" . . . Sorry, Captain. Won't happen again." The redhead seemed greatly disturbed by how this phone call was going. And he had a right to be; the man sounded like he was going to get fired soon, and the probability of that was highly likely, going by the other man's attitude.

"You bet yer sorry ass it won't, or you're fired! I'm not gonna let yer lazy ass slip by when we finally have that no-good Sonic in jail like he shoulda been since he and his whacky friends and that pain in the ass Eggman showed up!" Rouge's ear twitched at that and she smirked. Just wait until he sees another of Sonic's 'whacky friends' in the security room with the redhead . . .

" . . . Well, Ron isn't on duty again like he said he would be. I fell asleep waiting on him. I was supposed to be on break an hour ago-"

"Oh, boo woo. Cry me a river. I don't care fer yer half-assed excuses; get yer ass out there , suck it up, be a _real_ man and check the cameras yerself!"

" . . ." The man sighed and hung up the phone before standing back up again. "I'll show him, that sorry-ass, lazy-ass, stubborn-ass, son of a-"

"What was that, Hun?" She strolled beside the man with a knowing smirk. He jumped, suddenly remembering her presence, and then he sulked a little in shame at his outburst. He probably looked even less composed and unprofessional now more than ever after this visit.

"Uh . . . Just forget it. I have to check some cameras, so I have to leave, and that means so do you, for security reasons."

"It's alright; I'm done here anyways. Don't go losing your job, Hun." She passed a knowing wink before walking out of the room. He blushed in more humiliation before scoffing and leaving the room also, locking it behind him and grumbling about his crabby boss. She was only a few feet ahead of him, and he was far too tempted to make one last comment to satisfy his growing irritation after that annoying phone call.

"Tell the President that my boss needs ta get that stick outta his ass and stop shovin it in ours before he gets his bitchy self fired." She chuckled as he stormed off to the hallway where the two 'broken' cameras were at. She waited until she was outside before flying high into the air and taking out her walkie-talkie.

"Shadow? Shadow, come in."


	5. Chapter 5

_**In the Last Chapter:**_ Sonic was arrested and thrown into a cell on Prison Island. Amy went to rescue him, but instead ran into Shadow and Rouge at the entrance. Rouge went to get Maria's journal burned onto a disk for Eggman, but her true goal was to get information on Project Shadow on the disk and send it to the President. Meanwhile, after Shadow chases and captures Amy, he suddenly Chaos Controls them somewhere, ruining Amy's plans to save Sonic. Where did they go? What about the bomb Shadow was supposed to plant to make Sonic go **"KABOOM!"**?

* * *

She blinked after the light from the sudden transportation faded into nothingness, just like her enthusiasm. She had planned to help rescue her Sonic, further proving her capability to help the team instead of being some helpless damsel in distress Sonic had to worry over so much like a nuisance or a baby he had the displeasure of taking care of. She hoped that if she became stronger, he'd look at her in a different and more mature light and have more interest in her, and then he'd bring her along on his journeys more so that their bond would be able to grow.

But everything was ruined!

She hadn't expected Shadow and Rouge to be there at the entrance when Tails dropped her off. He went to take on Eggman before he could spot her, giving her the perfect opportunity to race in without anyone getting in her way. Well, not really. Shadow had chased and caught her before she was even halfway to Sonic's cell! And then he had the nerve to use Chaos Control and take them both into _**space!**_ She couldn't get to Sonic this way! Just the memory made her blood boil.

She didn't waste time snatching her wrist out of his grasp and demanding answers. She glared directly into his nonchalant ruby irises. "Just where the hell are we?!"

"Space Colony ARK . . . Where those foolish humans sealed their own demise." She was clueless on what he mean by saying that, and blinked in a bit of curiosity. He wasn't in the mood to explain such things; he wasn't interested in telling her his life story so she could preach to him or pity him. Plus, he didn't have time, because he still hadn't placed that bomb and set the timer yet. He cursed himself for getting distracted by a simple chase. He glanced over his shoulder at the confused pink hedgehog before taking out the red Chaos Emerald. She eyed its familiar glow with a scowl, knowing that he was going back there. Not without her, that is! "I don't have time to listen to your complaining. I have a job to do that involves taking out your little boyfriend."

"Don't you dare try to hurt Sonic! I won't let you! You'll have to go through me!"

" . . . Hmph." He looked like he would've laughed in her face with that mocking smirk of his growing on his muzzle, which angered her even more. Before she even ask, he pointed out what was so amusing to him. "You already know the outcome of that. Why would you even bother making a bigger fool out of yourself by repeating a lost cause? You really are a stupid girl."

Something snapped within her at his words, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs in a fiery rage. The flames of determination and passion were flickering in her eyes and around her body. This aura . . . It definitely caught his interest, and so did her next actions: grabbing him by the shoulders and shoving him into a wall. He glared down at the shorter and supposedly weaker creature with a stern frown; where did this bolder attitude and strength come from? Had she been using only a portion of her strength the entire time to deter him thus far? That look in her emerald eyes . . . It perfectly matched his gaze with a fire he couldn't extinguish even with it going against his own deadly gaze. For once, she wasn't intimidated. For once, she was showing a strength that could possibly make her a fairly strong enemy, and he was finally being more serious. He was ready for another fight. It was clear that she was too furious at him to think wisely, and he was more than prepared to block a swing from her mallet. But when she opened her mouth, he would've never expected to hear something like that from her while supposedly too frustrated to think rationally.

_**"Is it really so stupid that I want to protect the person I love with what little power I have?!"**_

His eyes grew wide at her words, immediately seeing a flash of a memory in her stead. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a human face looking at him with a worried expression, only wanting to help her dearest friend. He remembered that look right before she suddenly shoved him into the escape pod and closed it on him, leaving her there outside with those soldiers. She sacrificed herself to protect him, even though he clearly was strong enough to fight them off himself. It was just that he had to protect her, but she had been thinking the same thing. With what little power she had, she helped him escape the space colony, at the cost of her innocent life. With what little power she had . . .

"Maria . . ." The name just tripped off his tongue in a low whisper that she barely caught onto. She suddenly lost all reason to feel angry, and wiped away the tears that were trying to spring forward. Her flames had died down, and were soon replaced with the chilling ice of sorrow. Of course she knew how hopeless and bleak it seemed. She wasn't as stupid as he claimed, but maybe her blind passion made people believe that. So enthusiastic, so caring, so easy to believe in people's best wishes and dreams, along with her own. It's what made her Amy Rose. It's what people loved about her, even if her temper frightened them. She was so positive. She could easily wipe away the storms of negativity from others, but what about her own? Who would cheer her up when even that pink ball of sunshine wasn't so happy?

"Even if it isn't much . . . Even if I can't beat you . . . I'd rather die trying then just give up!" For Sonic's sake, after all. She came to save him and that's what she'd do, but she definitely wouldn't let Shadow beat him to a pulp a second time, or while he was stuck in a jail cell. That was just unfair!

" . . . Dying doesn't solve anything, stupid girl." She froze, registering his words and looking up at him. His eyes said so much in no words at all, she realized at that moment, while getting lost into the stormy red seas stained with blood and hatred. For humans, no doubt, and she couldn't help pitying him for having to go through such devastating emotions. She had no idea what he could've went through to be so traumatized, but while trapped in each other's eyes, staring into the depths of each other's hearts through the windows of their irises, they became dead silent, enough to make even the stars look at them in confusion. And once the ice had been broken, when this supposedly stupid girl somehow tore a layer from his hard shell, the stars knew to twinkle a little brighter in celebration. If this stupid girl could heal the fifty-year-old wound in his heart that had yet to be stitched, then this world could be saved from his wrath. Without even knowing, she had made a big impact on him. Something told him that she wasn't as stupid as he led himself to believe, because she was able to stun him by reminding him of Maria's dying spirit.

Nonetheless, he wouldn't let himself get distracted any longer. He wasted too much time. He was back to putting the layer back on, masking the emotions she stirred to life from within him and putting a stern glare over it. The spell was broken. The stars had turned away from his dark aura and dimmed their hopeful lights. And Amy, becoming aware of the shift, suddenly realized how long she had him pressed to the wall! Her muzzle was tinted a slight pink when he abruptly shoved her back, almost making her fall over. In a way, she was grateful for that, because her heart was beginning to skip a beat from the chemistry that had sparked back there. He was walking away, but he was going to Chaos Control again. She scowled sternly; even after that preaching, he was still going to try and hurt Sonic! He was beginning to glow, and she panicked. He was going to Chaos Control and leave her there alone in some cold, lonely place far away from civilization. She wondered, before suddenly rushing towards him again, if he had taken her there for a reason. Was this where he used to live? This cold and lonely place? That would definitely explain why he himself was so hard and distant, but for a moment, she saw the softer side of him he kept hidden behind his rock solid appearance, and the longing gaze he gave her when she screamed that desperate outburst in her own fit of rage. Her words struck a nerve. She had reminded him of something he wished he still had . . . or _**someone.**_

He didn't seem surprised when she tried to grab him before he teleported. In fact, going by how he grabbed her wrist more gently before she could dive into his torso, she thought he was actually inviting her to come along. She looked at him, growing more and more confused. What was on his mind? He never said too much, and sometimes when he did speak, it was in riddles, or it only made more questions pop into her head. He was a mystery, and Amy had always been a curious girl. That beautiful ruby red light was engulfing them again, but it was to get them back to Prison Island, where Sonic would be waiting. This time, she welcomed it with a content smile growing on her lips.

_Maria, huh? . . . I think she used to make him happy._

* * *

"You have a ten-second head start before I go after you again. After all, your plan will get in the way of mine." She blinked, stunned at the shift the moment they returned to Earth, back at Prison Island. In a way, she had expected him to turn away from her; after what had just occurred between the two on Space Colony ARK, she guessed that he was going back to business to stop whatever else that would've happened had he not teleported back to this place. He must be used to masking his emotions, to hiding everything behind his usually cold and emotionless facade. Nonetheless, she went along with his little game.

"You can forget about me being your captive. Not a second time!" A confident smirk grew on her muzzle. Right, because she had to save Sonic, and nobody, not even Shadow, could stop her when she was serious. She had her hammer ready for anything: security robots, Shadow breaking his word, Rouge coming out of nowhere, a few guards she might pass. They better think twice before facing Amy in her current state.

"Then you had better run." She noted that mischievous smirk on his muzzle, and wondered, to her horror, if he had implied that he was already counting down! She was quick to pick up her feet and move, running as fast as her feet could carry her. But unknown to her, Shadow was pulling out the bomb, placing it on a set of dynamite boxes that he had purposefully teleported to. Amy hadn't noticed because she had been focused on saving Sonic, which meant that the plan would go more smoothly now. He was setting the timer, contemplating what time might work best, going by how much of her assignment did Rouge get to complete.

And just in time, his device began to buzz.

**"Shadow? Shadow, come in?"** He sighed, knowing that he must've taken too long. Why else would she have called him? He picked it up and braced himself for anything.

"What, Rouge-"

"Why the hell haven't you said anything about the bomb!?" He moved the device from his ear with an annoyed huff. He should've known that she would get impatient and demand answers. He was slowing her down, and she didn't need dead weight. With a calmer and quieter voice, she went on, but her attitude was still clear in her words. "I already finished my part of the job, but what's taking the Ultimate Life Form so long? Were you really that busy toying with Pinkie?"

" . . . Five minutes, and then this place will go sky high." Now her curiosity was satisfied, but he completely avoided her other question. She scoffed and smirked knowingly; it's not as if he could deny the facts anyways. She would have urged him to spill the beans, but they were being timed by now, and she doubted Shadow would say anything to her when he already didn't trust her. So instead, she remained on less personal discussions.

"About time. That fat ass is going to bombard you with questions when he finds out about your stalling." No doubt, since Rouge had to contact him because of how long he took to plant a simple bomb.

"Couldn't care less."

"You should, if you want to read this girl Maria's final journal." He scowled and sent a deadly glare at the device. She must've sensed his tension and chuckled in triumph. That woman was a pain in his ass, but she had her point. He needed to at least remember what she last wrote down before the humans slayed her, before the angel went through hell. He closed his eyes and sighed in reluctant submission. She won this time, sure, but never again.

"Just meet me at the entrance so we can go already." And in his slight temper at his dented pride, he retorted to back-sassing that annoying batgirl. She noted that attitude and smacked her teeth in disgust.

"Fine. No need to be a grouch."

"By the way, I'm bringing company." She was more than surprised by that sudden news. He didn't say anything about keeping a hostage earlier, but now, he must think that he can drag Amy into their plans all of a sudden so that they couldn't stop him. Well, he had another thing coming if that's what he was thinking!

"Not **_that_** annoying pink brat! Are you into the obsessed and stupid girls lately?" He was tempted to find out where Rouge was hiding and give her a piece of his mind eye-to-eye, so she could feel more intimidated and inferior by his strong presence and increasingly twitching right eye. She was purposefully trying to piss him off.

Putting that aside, he hadn't expected to speak in defense of the enemy. The words sort of tumbled from his mouth. "She's not as pathetic as you claim her to be. Underestimating your opponent comes back to bite you in the ass later on. She's rather strong, has deadly will power, and that mallet could break your skull." He heard her chuckling in the background, almost bursting into giggles. He was starting to grow dangerously impatient; what the hell did that woman find so amusing?

"Oh, so you _do_ like her?" She must've thought she had him trapped in a corner, but oh was she wrong. In fact, Shadow didn't feel very intimidated by her expected taunts at all.

"Recognizing someone's true potential isn't showing any sign of affection. It's having good observance skills, something you obviously lack, and for a jewel thief, that's really pathetic of you." He heard her gasp and then growl at him. She wasn't used to being bested so easily, huh? Now she didn't know what to do or say, expect attempt to chastise or ridicule him.

"Hmph! You think just because you're some supposedly Ultimate Life Form you can act like you're better than me?" He smirked in triumph. Now she was the one fuming, which was just what he wanted. The tables were turned, and now he was the dominator in this test of verbal comebacks.

"That, and I was the one who actually had to handle her, so of course I'd know about that."

"But you didn't know this was comin', huh, Hun?" He arched an eyebrow at that remark, and then instantly realized how close her voice seemed to be. And then instincts lead him to duck, and just in time to miss Rouge's fist of fury pounding into his skull. She scoffed as he turned his head to give her a serious glare. His crimson eyes darted to the timer still ticking off, and then back at an angry ivory bat.

"There's two minutes left, and no time to have a sparing match. Wait here, and I'll be back with the luggage." He was gone in an instant in a black and red blur, leaving her standing there confused and still a bit ticked off. She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Never in her life had a man insulted her career and had gotten away with it. Even Knuckles wasn't smart enough to come up with a comment like that! And even if he had, he wouldn't have been walking around without a large bump on his knucklehead.

"Honestly, that guy . . ." _Has a serious point._

Her anger simmered down a knotch as she silently accepted his words. They were a little too harsh and straight-forward, hard for her to just swallow without gagging and choking, but true all the same. She did the same thing when trying to steal Knuckles' Master Emerald or getting surrounding by GUN soldiers while Topaz started intimidating her. She took it all with confidence, claiming Knuckles to be a complete imbecile that couldn't even hope of besting her abilities, and Topaz to be some weak little floosy that was lucky that Rouge didn't care for a battle after falling into a trap set for Sonic joining the government. She took it all with grace, with her pride held high and her head even higher, like the strong, independent and intelligent woman she was. She simply manipulated her way around whatever didn't work out the way she had planned, and then would smirk in triumph and fly away with her prize. But how could some guy that lived fifty years ago suddenly call out her biggest mistake in all of her days of treasure-hunting without even knowing her for even half a day!?

_**Because he's **__**observant!**_

Okay, so she felt that he deserved some sort of credit for studying up on his suspects. He didn't trust her, after all. That's why he was watching her with that constant glare, not because he was some creep, but because his suspicions of her motive and reasons for even helping Eggman were never found out. He was cautious of this strange woman who simply waltzed in and had Eggman hastily letting her join, even though his robots knew that she was not to be trusted. And perhaps even that so-called 'genius' knew, but would have her tag along until he got what he wanted and could dispose of her before she ruined any of his plans. Even Eggman had his moments of ingenious plots or thinking, though they did come rare, or had a ridiculos way of crumbling down that ruined whatever glory he would've earned from his ideas. His plans to defeat Sonic would always fail, only demeaning his genius more.

So if she were to observe Shadow and Eggman also, then she could end up making that stuck-up hedgehog think twice about calling her pathetic again! She liked that idea: stunning him to keeping his overconfident mouth shut, which is ironic, considering she had acted the same way with her other opponents, but felt uncomfortable when the tables were suddenly flipped on her. Rouge's dominant and intimidating appearance was something she preferred to keep up at all times, which was very akin to Shadow's own mask when dealing with enemies. She smirked with confidence and toyed with one strand of her ivory hair. Her other hand had reached into the heart breastplate of her jumpsuit and pulled out the CD for a moment before stuffing it back between her breasts with obvious confidence once again gleaming in her cerulean eyes. He had no idea what was really on this disk, or that the President would be receiving the perfect information to discover that Sonic was not guilty of any crime, and would have the evidence and authority to terminate the living project before it caused chaos again. With this information, they'd be sure to shower her in gems as a reward for not just showing them what Eggman had found when hacking into the government's mainframe, but also for solving the case by handing them this very valuable information on Project Shadow and Space Colony ARK.

"We'll just see who's really pathetic."


	6. Chapter 6

**_In The Last Chapter: _**Shadow lets Amy off . . . for the moment, and returns to Prison Island, when she latches onto him suddenly. He allows her ten seconds to do whatever she wants to do- free Sonic, of course!- while he was busy getting back to business, which included planting a bomb near the dynamite boxes. The clock started at five minutes, but it turns into two minutes while Shadow had gotten distracted _again,_ but this time by Rouge's teasing. Now that that's over with, he rushes to grab his hostage again, but does he know how close she is to Sonic by now?

* * *

**"Sonic! There you are! I finally found you!"**

She beamed brightly as she raced down the long hallway to Sonic's cell. She was more than overjoyed to see that her hero was alright, but she was surprised that Shadow hadn't caught up to her yet. That had to have been about two minutes since they came back from Space Colony ARK. The thought came and went in an instant as she whipped out her hammer and then, with a mighty cry, banged his cell door down with one merciless swing. It quivered at her mercy, breaking from its hinges from her unimaginable force, and then it fell over on its side and onto the floor, giving Sonic the chance to jump out and escape.

He had jumped at the sound of her voice, and then stood up from his previous laid out position in an attempt to get a decent nap. He looked at her, and then Shadow's words rung throughout his ears, the words he said only a while before that doppleganger took him out.

**"I don't intend to leave, and I doubt your little pink girlfriend would want me to either."**

**"She had the gall to try and fight me. _Me,_ Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate creation. Quite an interesting girl you have. It'd be a shame if she were to have her little neck** **_snapped."_**

Amy had lied to him! She said she never got to see him, but she had done more than that. She even tried to fight him herself, something that worried the hero. She was strong, of course, but just will power and strength isn't enough to beat someone as fast as Sonic.

He looked away for a moment, thinking everything over in confusion. She never had a reason to lie to the hero she always chased after and had such confidence in, so why was she suddenly acting different when an imposter comes into the scene? Why didn't she tell him something that important, or lie about seeing the doppelganger Sonic had been desperately searching for? Now Sonic was even more worried and confused after finding out her rather peculiar secrecy. He looked at her after a while with a little hurt and a bit of irritation weighing on his shoulders. They were friends, weren't they? She trusted him, didn't she?

At this point, he had been too still, too unresponsive to her valiant rescue, and too distant that it frightened the pink hedgehog. She Iooked at Sonic in concern before walking into the cell and softly guiding him out on her own accord. She called his name a few times to get his attention, and after a moment, he did respond. Just not in the way that she expected. " . . . You know, after about four years, I thought you trusted your idol more."

"What?" She was shocked at his irritated glare aimed directly at her, and the harsh chill behind his words. She was confused; what drove out this sudden frustration inside of him? She just rescued him!

"Amy . . . He told me what you did." Her eyes grew wide, and she swore to beat that arrogant ebony hedgehog into the ground later for spilling the beans. She knew Sonic wouldn't have liked hearing her confrontation with that creature, and so she didn't tell him. She walked around that subject so he wouldn't worry about her.

" . . . I-I only wanted to save those people inside-" He cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"I have no problem with you being a hero. What I want to know is why you didn't tell me he tried to hurt you when I asked why you looked burnt and bruised when I saw you yesterday. I was worried about you, but you lied to me and left me running all around town for the guy when you knew what direction he went." She winced and stared down at her hands in shame. When he said it like that, she felt so guilty. Maybe if she had just told him, he wouldn't have felt betrayed. And because she didn't tell Sonic where he went, the cobalt hero was up during midnight searching, and then was abruptly confronted by the culprit while he was on an empty stomach. She felt like she was part of the reason why Sonic had been taken to Prison Island now.

She looked up at him with tears hanging at the edges of her eyes. " . . . Because I . . . I wanted you to see that I'm not a damsel in distress anymore." He blinked in shock at her response. He wasn't quite expecting that. Now he was the one feeling guilty. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "You're always saving me and worrying about me. I don't want to be a burden on you, or an annoyance. I just wanted you to believe in me like I believe in you."

He smiled at that and gave her a reassuring smile. She was surprised when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her close to his torso. She could hear his steady heartbeat, the tempo of his breathing matching in sync. He looked at her, right in the eyes, and spoke more gently, with more care and consideration in his tone and his words. " . . . I know you're strong, Amy, but this is a guy as strong as I am. Strength means nothing if you can't land a hit. But for the record, I never thought of you as a burden or an annoyance. You're just a little . . . overexcited and passionate, but that's not anything terrible about you either. It's what makes you the cheerful and positive girl everyone loves. And asking me not to worry and save you is something I just can't do. I do it because you mean a lot to me."

Her jaw dropped. Did he really just tell her that? She couldn't deny that beaming and beautiful smile of his was aiming at her, telling her that everything was true. He really did care about her. He really did see her for her strength and her determination, the bright sides of her that others couldn't quite see when they focused more on her crush on her hero. But he knew. She never knew that he did, but he knew his Amy Rose better than anyone. She could feel the tears coming back, but they were joyful ones. "S-Sonic . . ." She blinked, and a tear leaked from her right eye. "Do you really mean that?"

He smiled and gently held her cheek before wiping away that single tear and the trail it left behind. "Of course I do. I can't let this guy pose as me and hurt the people important to me. So I'm asking you if you've seen him after I was taken here. Can you trust me enough to tell me the truth?" She nodded her head eagerly, her beaming smile instantly shining again. Even her voice was chippy and filled with glee and excitement. Her eyes were starting to sparkle with renewed happiness. That's the Amy Rose Sonic knew.

"Of course, Sonic! In fact, he's-"

"Right here, you lousy Faker." They jumped in surprise, and Sonic was starting to blush at the thought of being caught like that. But his first priority was getting in front of Amy and using his arms to shield her while sending the threat a sharp glare. But much against his sudden actions, Amy tried to move beside him, peeking her head over Sonic's shoulder and even lowering the arm that was blocking her vision. It was Shadow alright, and by the looks of it, Amy figured he was back to his business mode, and had came to take her away.

"Shadow!" He looked at her surprised gleam in her eyes, and then at the blue hedgehog trying to cover her. He smirked.

"Oh, did I interrupt something? Too bad. It'll have to wait." And then he cracked his knuckles in preparation for another fight. "For your doom."

Sonic scoffed. "You again?! Why would you even be here if you already took the emeralds?" The ebony hedgehog did not even stare at Sonic as he answered, but mockingly, and knowingly, at the pink girl behind him.

"To complete my mission: eliminating you!" And just as Shadow predicted, she started to flare up. She took out her hammer in an instant, her body shoving itself beside Sonic's, and then she took her stance to cover him instead. By the looks of it, Sonic wasn't so sure if she could fight him off so well, but he had to believe in her will power and strength. She was unstoppable when she was determined, after all.

"I told you that I won't let you hurt him!" He chuckled, which startled the two uneasy hedgehogs.

"Don't need to. Whether I fight him or not, the mission will still be complete. Besides, I mainly came here to take _you."_ At this, Sonic's eyes grew wide, and so did Amy's. She didn't understand what Shadow meant by that second sentence, but it didn't sound good. He must've had a plan set up. In that case, Sonic needed to get out of there! But the blue hedgehog was more focused on Shadow's true objective. He suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his side protectively. He was practically snarling now, which startled her, but the thought of being this close to Sonic today was making her heartbeat accelerate and her cheeks turn pink.

"You're not going anywhere with her!" He crossed his arms over his chest, but his smirk never faltered.

"If she wants to live, she'll have to." Her eyes grew even wider. He was hinting at his plan, wasn't he? If he Chaos Controlled them away, she'd be safe, but Sonic would die! Did he set a bomb in the building that was going to explode!? Yes, that must be it! And the timer must be close to running out. Her mind raced for a solution to save them both before the unknown time reached zero, but her best idea was not a good one.

"I won't let you hurt her!" He got into a fighting stance, which brought Amy out of her thoughts as she looked at him, and then at Shadow's bored and reluctant expression.

"Not another pathetic fight. You're a waste of my time, insolent worm." He was out of her line of vision in an instant, startling them both. Sonic tried to refocus himself, but did not expect an aerial attack from the ceiling. The impact on his head definitely left him dizzy and knocked out for the moment. Amy gasped as Sonic collapsed to the ground.

"Sonic!" And then, to her horror, she felt another hand, larger and less gentle, taking a hold of her waist and prying her into his torso. She heard him chuckle, and then her ears perked up at the sound of his voice whispering in her ear. His breathe on her ear was making her shiver in fear, and she was quick to try and thrash about in order to get away. But he was stronger. He was faster. She had no such luck escaping.

"Now, then, little Rose, your time has long been over. Time to leave."

"Let go of me!" She could see the familiar red light glowing in his other hand, and she instantly knew that it was all over.

"Say goodbye to the Faker. Forever." Tears were starting to leak from her eyes by now. It was hopeless. He was unconscious, and he didn't know about the bomb that might blow off in a few seconds! Even if he were to wake up, he'd already be staring at the gates of heaven. It was too painful to let her watch it all unfold, to see this last image of him before being kidnapped. She would lose him. The hero of Möbius was going to die at the hands of his own impersonator!

**"SONIC!"** She called out to him in desperation. He had been right after all; Shadow was not an enemy Amy could handle on her own. He was on par with Sonic, and maybe even stronger, something just strength and courage and will couldn't help her beat. She needed a hero.

**_Her_** hero.

The sound of her frightened scream suddenly woke him up from his painful slumber. His eyes shot wide open. The familiar warmth of a Chaos Emerald at work made his blood run cold. He snapped his head around and saw Shadow holding Amy hostage before he muttered those two words that made Sonic try to leap with all of his might towards them.

"Chaos Control!" And just like that, the two were gone. Sonic had been so close to grabbing Shadow's arm and getting taken with them, with her, to hopefully protect her while she was left with that monster. But he was one second too late. His torso hit the cold tile floors, and he felt like punching himself for being too slow to save one of his friends. He had no idea where Shadow went, if Amy would be safe, or or how to find them. He cursed himself and banged his fist on the floor in frustration.

**"AMY!"** He knew she wasn't there. He knew she couldn't hear him from wherever she was right now, but he hoped that she knew that he was going to do whatever it takes to find her and make sure she would be safe.

And that would mean he would first have to get off of this stupid island!

He was quick to get his feet moving at his famous speed. He had raced out of the building in under ten seconds, and then he grimaced at the large body of water around the island. He could just barely see the buildings from the city off in the distance. He was also surprised that the security had suddenly gotten so poor. Some high-tech state-of-the-art security system this was! But this was no time to start snorting at the irony; he had to get out of this place. He figured Amy was able to get here by Tails, so where was the little guy?

"Sonic! Over here!" He smiled in relief as he looked off near the many trees where Tails was waving him over. "You have to hurry! Everyone evacuated because there's a bomb!" And then he noticed that something was clearly wrong. As Sonic grabbed Tails' hand and ran toward the plane, the kitsune asked in a worried voice, "Wait, Sonic! Where's Amy? I thought she went to save you!"

"We're gonna find her soon, Tails."

"You mean she's been kidnapped by Shadow!?"

"And the worst part is that I don't know where they could've gone. But we'll think of something. We always pull through in the end."

"Right. I'll make sure to check out all of Eggman's bases and find out where they're hiding, Sonic." He nodded as if not worried at all, but he mainly said it to give himself full confidence on eventually finding out Shadow's hiding spot. But it still didn't settle his nerves on what Shadow would do to Amy while she was helpless against him. He told Sonic he might snap her neck! The thought of her being intimidated by Shadow was driving him insane with worry. He sighed heavily, and he resorted to the only thing he could do at the moment: he prayed. And then he pledged to the girl that was on his mind that he'd find her quickly.

" . . . I swear I'll find you. I promise."


	7. Chapter 7

_**In the Last Chapter**_: Shadow planted the bomb, but Sonic was able to escape thanks to Tails and his plane! But that Faker kidnapped Amy, and Sonic has no idea where she is or if she'll be okay with that demonic hedgehog holding her captive. Hopefully, he and his friends will find out where she is, and soon . . . "I swear I'll find you. I promise."

* * *

She had been quick to start pounding her fists on his head, crying hysterically and threatening to kill him if Sonic was pronounced dead because of him and his stupid mission. He was definitely irritated with her overwhelming emotions being thrashed on him like that, but he found himself not even trying to blame her, let alone stop her. Her words were still imprinted in his mind.

_**"Is it really so stupid that I want to protect the person I love with what little power I have?!"**_

And he still tried to kill Sonic. Even after she freed him, he still had the nerve to plant a freaking bomb on the island just to wipe the guy out! Had her statement meant nothing? And to make matters worse, she was alone with Rouge and Eggman and Shadow, three of the most vile enemies that ever set foot on Mobius! Her chances of escaping were nearly impossible. And she knew, to her horror, that even if Sonic survived, or if her friends searched every corner of the Earth to find her, they never will, because Shadow had dragged her back to Space Colony ARK! She doubted they knew of any space bases, so how would they ever hope to find her?

"-and now I'm gonna be stuck in this stupid place for the rest of my life with three lunatic stooges because of you!" He was at a breaking point. Yes, she had a right to be pissed at him, but did she not connect the dots yet? _Stupid girl._

" . . . At least I didn't leave you to blow up with that Faker. You should be thanking me." He saved her! She knew there was a bomb and thought only of saving Sonic all the way, but when the timer was ticking too close to zero, he grabbed her and got her out of there. He hadn't forgotten the pink girl he had practically tortured ever since she tried to whack him for burning someone's house down. He was supposed to just plant the bomb and leave, without letting anyone get suspicious of what he was doing. But she had interfered. She always interfered, saving those pathetic humans and her darling hero when it was his goal to destroy them all, and even though he knew she was supposed to be his enemy, he couldn't let that bomb blow her up sky high. He just couldn't. His conscious wouldn't allow it.

She scowled at him. "I would've preferred blowing up! At least I'd be with Sonic until the end, instead of being stuck in some old space colony with Eggman as some damsel in distress, and with Rouge and **_you_** on top of that!? I've had it with this!" Honestly, she had had enough of being a distraction or a burden on her friends. She was strong too, but Eggman always captured her and made her look like a weakling. She didn't want them to worry about her as if she were weak, but have full confidence in her abilities and will power. Now they had to save the weak pink brat once again. What a joy . . .

"Didn't I already tell you? Dying won't solve anything." The spell his words had on her before would not work a second time. She drove an accusing finger into his torso with a threatening glare.

"Then why did you try to kill Sonic?!" She wanted to believe so terribly that he would be okay, that he survived. It was what gave her the strength she had left to believe in herself, her friends, and the hero she always admired even since he saved her from Metal Sonic.

"You have your reasons for your mission, and I have mine. I don't care for his life, the humans' lives, or anyone else's for that matter. All of it will be ending soon anyways." Talking in implied omens again. That definitely didn't sound good. He was planning something terrible in this base. Maybe Eggman was in on this too. And then he whispered something that made her ears perk up to hear the words. "Just like she wanted."

" . . . Who's she?" Her dread and anger and sorrows were forgotten in an instant once she heard those words come out of his mouth. He grew stiff in an instant when she asked and so he glared at her, a warning for her to back off.

"No one of interest to you." And he was amused to see her puff her cheeks out in an angry pout like the child she was.

"Hmpf! Well, Mr. Grouchy, if I wasn't interested, I wouldn't have asked, for starters." Oh, and that sassy tone from their first meeting was back also. She was a feisty one. But it all dropped into a naturally concerned look in her sparkling emerald green irises as she looked into a beautiful bloody sea of unknown malice and despair. "And why do you always go on about humans like they're such terrible people? What did they ever do to you?" That question irked him a little. What did they ever do to- Was she really that naive?

"You mean to tell me that you weren't angry at them for confusing your pathetic hero for me in the beginning?" She paused, remembering how pissed off she was when she heard them talking terribly about him, claiming him to be bad news all along. Even though he had saved their sorry cans over and over and over again from Eggman and never killed a fly, they believed so easily that he killed those soldiers in the footage from the break-in at Prison Island. Yes, in fact, she had been infuriated about it all when trying to go back to Chris' house. She avoided further eye contact, further hinting at her expected answer.

" . . . Well-" He knew it was a yes the moment she paused and interrupted her to move on with his point.

"And if they went as far as killing him, you wouldn't hate them for that?" At this, Amy froze, staring up at Shadow with shock in her big green eyes. She finally understood everything now: his sorrow, his malice and carelessness towards the humans. Why would he mention something like the humans killing Sonic in the first place? Because that was exactly what happened to Shadow's loved one. It all made sense now, and now, after finally unraveling the true side and feelings of Shadow the Hedgehog, she found no reason to hate him. She could only pity him.

And he didn't like that pity in her eyes, or the fact that she had suddenly hugged him. This wasn't the hug from Prison Island, where she mistook him for the Faker. This was a hug meant for him, and despite how uncomfortable he felt, it was welcoming and a great relief to him. Her warmth resonated like the shining stars around them. And those stars had shined more brightly when they realized the creation was starting to warm up again, loosening himself from his cold hard shell from past emotions. He was looking at the now, with this pink creature that, despite trying to blow up her own loved one, had showed compassion towards him. She was one of the few that looked at him as something more than a deadly creation. When Maria had first saw him in his tube while he was being tested, she had smiled so kindly at him, as if he meant something. Her eyes spoke differently than the all-business and careless eyes of the other scientists fifty years ago. And Amy Rose suddenly burst into his life fifty years later, and here she is, reminding him of that simplistic compassion. She was perhaps the only creature that could astound him like this, like Maria used to . . .

" . . . I see. So they killed her." He grew stiff and his hands clenched into fists at the terrible memory. Amy could feel his pain as he gritted his teeth, while his fists shook to contain his raging emotions from the horrible images her words conjured. She closed her eyes and rested her head into his torso, and found the small tuff of white chest fur to be the softest pillow she ever laid on. How someone so strong and supposedly deadly could actually be so fragile astounded her. They both were alike in that sense; Shadow acted tough to hide his pain-filled emotions, and although Amy was strong with her large mallet, she was also weak at heart, far too easy to disappoint or cheer up when it came to Sonic, and quite naive at times. And her heart was so akin to Maria's both in innocence and compassion for all creatures that it both frightened and allured him. He missed Maria's seraphic presence, a presence that Amy Rose also seemed to have, but this pink girl cursed him with the woeful memories of how an angel suffered a hellish fate. "Is that why you always look so lonely?"

Did he really? Perhaps his solitude always made him look socially distraught or mysterious, longing to be with someone and yet unable to muster the courage. He longed for someone alright, but she had left this world fifty years ago, but it felt like she had been there only yesterday since he had been asleep for about fifty years. Waking up to a reality that seemed too cruel to be true, he wondered if he was still dreaming, if Maria might still be alive. But denying reality would get him nowhere. "I feel nothing for anything anymore." It was both a lie and the truth. His heart had died along with her that day, but a part of him that remembered her fate wanted vengeance for her sake, and regretted the fact that he had been utterly helpless and could do nothing but watch his beloved Maria die in front of him.

"And that's why you hate humans?" His brain finally kicked in past those memories and back to the now, to the girl that was probing his mind and making him relive that hell. He scowled sternly and glared at her. And yet his hands were slow to pry her away. He felt like he just pushed away something precious, like Maria, but he couldn't allow himself to experience that ache from watching a loved one die again. He couldn't take going through it a second time.

"I don't remember asking you to do an analysis on my life story."

"I'm pretty sure something's wrong with how you're connecting the blame here." So not only did she ignore his irritation at his belittled privacy, but she also wants to preach to him about how he should be living his life. Did she know just how insulting she was being to him right now? "All of humanity shouldn't be to blame because of the fault of a small number."

"Well, I never asked for your input anyways." She shrugged carelessly and drove a finger into his chest again.

"Well, it's true, and whatever you're planning is wrong."

At that, he literally burst into a maniacal and mocking laughter, which startled her to the point of backing away. "Wrong?" He set his intimidating gaze on her and crept closer. "Are you trying to play god now, dictating what is moral and immoral? For all I care, they all can rot in hell. They're all selfish and will practically abuse each other just to dominate in Social Darwinism." He suddenly scowled, going back to all seriousness in an instant. "It's disgusting."

Now it was her turn to talk. She frowned and glared back at him, matching his unamused gaze with her determined one. "That still doesn't make it right to blame them _all_ for what happened! Do you really think 'she' would want you to do this?"

His anger was starting to rise again. How dare this little pink brat even assume that she knew anything about Maria! "To get revenge over the ones who killed her for protecting me? To give them the ultimate punishment after killing an innocent person? Damn right, she would, because she never did anything to deserve getting shot at." Amy could only stand before him in silence, pitying the savage beast and wishing she could help him somehow. But he had seen his closest friend die with his own eyes, all because she wanted to protect him. He probably blamed himself for it too, for not being able to protect her. Amy doubted he wanted her pity, but how could she not feel sorry for his loss after hearing his heartbreaking experience? "Those disgusting humans . . ." He looked full of rage again, teeth clenched and fists shaking. And then his true heart-ache was exposed with his last desperate shout. "She never deserved to die!"

" . . . That may be true, but if she was as kindhearted as you knew her to be, then can you really imagine her wanting to hurt anyone like this? Like burning them in their house?" She tried a more sensitive approach this time, keeping his mind that he might get mad at her if she didn't mind her word choice. His emotions were sensitive and one slip-up could give him the wrong idea, and then he'd possibly try to kill her.

He seemed quiet, a little too quiet, after she said that. He was thinking it over, actually acknowledging someone else's opinion. When did her thoughts actually start to matter to him while trying to avenge his friend's lost life? She was so stubborn, always getting in the way of his revenge plans. He knew damn well what he was doing. " . . . Maybe, and maybe not, but I promised her justice, and I'll make sure she gets it."

Her ears drooped at his response. He was still going along with his plans to eradicate all of the humans. He was quite the stubborn one. "Shadow-"

_**KABOOM!**_

"What the- . . ." Amy looked around for the source of the explosion in a panic. Shadow was completely calm, and even smirking, as he strolled towards a window and saw what had happened. Amy was right at his heels, curiously peeking over his shoulder before gasping and standing in his way, gawking at what they saw. Shadow could've been upset when she blocked his view, but he let it slide. After all, anyone would react like that after seeing the moon suddenly half its usual size! "He blew up the moon!?"

"Clearly, it's half, unless something is wrong with your eyes. Wouldn't surprise me since you mistook me for that Faker ever after already meeting me." She snapped her head around to glare at him with her cheeks puffed out in an angry pout.

"Why you little-"

"And that's just with three Chaos Emeralds as a test run. Wait until we put in all seven. And then you can say 'Sayonara' to those pathetic humans you care so much about." She turned her entire body away from the window to glare sternly at him.

"You wouldn't." His delighted smirk remained, but he simply shrugged.

"Not me. It's the Doctor using the controls. I doubt he'd really blow up the Earth. He's merely giving the President a scare in order to get him to give up control of America to him. But even so, he might actually fire the Eclipse Cannon on Earth if the President is foolish enough to keep stalling." She blinked in complete shock at such news.

"Eggman can't be _that_ crazy . . ." _But if he was desperate enough . . ._

"But he foolishly broadcasted live to all of America, instead of solely to the President. That damned fool. He's not even partly as intelligent as Gerald was."

"Who's that?" She realized as he grumbled that Eggman had revealed his location to everyone in America, and that meant to all of her friends as well! So now she knew that her friends would be rushing to find a way to get to the space colony in order to save her. And hopefully, Sonic had survived and heard the news also. But then Shadow dropped another hint at his past loved ones. When she dared to peek into his private life fifty years ago once again, he sent her a glare that had lost all patience with her.

"I refuse to go into any more explanations of my life with the likes of you." She glared at him, barely frightened by that deadly look in his eyes. Instead, she placed her hands on her little hips and stuck out her tongue at him, something that he expected that troublesome child to do.

"Well, then, you wouldn't have to if you hadn't mentioned them in the first place and made me curious! So who's really at fault here?" He growled, both at her attitude and the fact that she was right. He kept grumbling their names under his breathe, and she would barely hear him and start prying at him for further explanations.

"Stubborn woman. Twice as annoying as that bat." She scoffed and strolled away from him, finally fed up with his presence.

"Then you shouldn't have bothered taking me with you if I'm so much trouble."

"If I even knew why I bothered, I would've been happy to leave you there instead." At this, she arched an eyebrow and turned her body to face him. He was staring out of that window and picturing the many days he and Maria would gaze down at Earth while he listened to her marveling over her dreams of how it must look down there, all of the things it held. He could never forget how she begged him to go with her one day, and after a while, he promised, and grumbled about how persistent she was. Amy Rose was likewise, and in many other ways that seemed to haunt him, except she was far more hot-tempered. But other than that, they were almost identical in spirit. And then it hit him as he looked back at her. "Is she . . . a reincarnation?"

But Amy missed what his lips absentmindedly muttered as he looked at her with his anger completely subsided. Instead, he was standing there, shocked and dumb-founded to silence. But she was still ticked at his carelessness, the absurdity of his decisions thus far. "Why not do it now? Let me blow up with Earth so you can get rid of me. That's exactly what you want, right? Since you seem so pissed off about having me as a captive, spare yourself the trouble." He scowled and looked away from her again. Maria used to egg him on like that when she tried to make him smile or admit that he did care about her and her grandfather. He squinted his eyelids together and grunted, trying to shove away those thoughts.

" . . . Damn it all, I can't."

"Then what's stopping you?" He cracked his eyes open and dared to stare back at her again. He knew she was a handful because of that temper, but she irked him with her persistence. Her compassion and moments of kindness and concern towards him felt far too similar to Maria. And because of that, he couldn't bear the thought of seeing Maria's agonized expression sketched over hers if she were to die from that blast. It'd be like losing her all over again.

"Memories."


	8. Chapter 8

_**In The Last Chapter:**_ Amy was anything but happy to be back at Space Colony ARK, not knowing if her Sonikku survived the bomb's explosion at Prison Island or not. She lashes out on Shadow, but he was really trying to save her life! She ends up finding out about Maria's death, but Shadow insists on giving her justice, even at the cost of the Earth and all of humanity. Eggman has already warned the President of Earth's fate if he doesn't give up America to him. The Eclipse Cannon shattered half of the moon with just three Emeralds; wait until all seven are placed inside and the cannon is aimed at Earth! But let's not forget one key factor from Chapter Two: Shadow's Emerald Locator Watch had detected one Emerald back at Chris' mansion, where Tails' X-Tornado lies waiting!

* * *

He was finding it harder and harder to look away from her. His eyes and mind were playing a cruel game on him lately. After she found the kitchen and made herself dinner, for some odd reason, she acted as if she cared about if he was hungry or not. He told her no, but his stomach had given himself away. Instead of humiliating his obvious weakness, she offered him half of her hoagie. And instead of going with his constant refusal, she just laughed and pretended like she was trying to feed a baby. Funny how Maria had done the same thing when he was upset over a recent experiment that caused his arms to ache tremendously.

"Aw, come on, Shadow. Say 'ah'. It won't bite." He wasn't amused by her behavior, or the fact that Maria said those exact words to him that day. He was too prideful to let some girl treat him like so. With Maria, he had been a little less forceful, but Amy was a different story. His hand shoved the sandwich further away, which earned an angry pouty face from the little pink hedgehog.

"I am not in the mood for such games, Rose." She shook her head at him.

"Well, you're obviously hungry, and you've been staring at me eating my half for a while." Little did she know that he wasn't staring at her because she had a sandwich, but for bigger and more personal reasons. "Is it wrong for me to offer you half of my sandwich?" She tried placing it in his hand, but he merely allowed his hand to smoothly and effortlessly evade her movements before swatting her hand away. He turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyebrows at her.

"Why do you even bother?" Her eyes were searching him for a reason why he would ask such a question. As if he had just said something stupid. He hated that blank and confused look, and luckily, it passed over quickly as she simply smiled and put the hoagie on her plate before holding his hand.

"Because I care, silly!" His eyes shot wide open for a second, once again seeing images of Maria's sweet and caring smile flashing over hers. It was the same smile, he realized and shut his eyes closed and cursed at himself. He yanked his hand out of her grip.

"Stupid girl. Getting chummy with the enemy can get you killed." And yet she was still smiling like a happy fool. His words did nothing to smother her mood.

"Well, you didn't kill me yet. In fact, you decided not to let me blow up with Prison Island. I know you're not really as bad as you want me to believe." And then she looked at him a little more seriously and sternly. "So quit the act."

Well, that certainly caught his attention! He instantly glared at her sudden mood change and the words that threatened to challenge him. "Act? You think I'm joking about blowing that planet and every human in it sky high?" She rolled her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. Now she was getting on his nerves, acting so calm and confident. He was so used to seeming superior over her both in intellect and strength. Just what game was this child playing at?

"The reason behind it shows that you're not really evil. You said it's for someone _else's_ justice. And even if I might not agree with it, I can tell that you're going through with it because you cared about her a lot." He scoffed, settling with a simple glare, because so far, she had figured him out down to the last dot.

"And what do you know?" She poked a finger in his chest fur in triumph.

"A lot, actually, because you told me." Oh, that smirk was mocking him in so many ways. He wanted to make a smart comeback, or point out just how wrong she was, but this time, he was dumbfounded to silence because she was absolutely right. He cursed himself for his own failure.

" . . . Damn it all." She giggled, knowing that she finally outsmarted him into silence. He wasn't too happy about it, but Amy Rose was glad to know that she proved how she wasn't some stupid girl like he always claimed her to be. Maybe now he'll show her some respect. But she wanted more than that from him, something much more important.

"You know, Shadow? You can have that chance again, to be with people that you care about, if only you'd let them in your life. Like you let me. I can be your friend." She didn't expect him to jump for the chance, but she at least wanted him to know that she wanted to make him see the light again.

As she expected, he wouldn't dare let her into his dark abyss of a heart, but she was glad to hear a little more sincerity in his words. "I don't need any friends, not when it's all going to be over soon. And didn't I warn you about befriending enemies?" He was telling her that he didn't want her to get hurt because of him. Even if he was rough around the edges, she knew in her heart that Shadow was actually a nice and compassionate person behind his cold exterior.

"Honestly, Shadow, after what we've been through, and after what you've told me, I can't see you as an enemy. And I bet you can't either."

"That doesn't mean that I care for a stupid pink nuisance."

And he just had to go there!

His response definitely shocked her. She gasped, honestly hurt a little, and then gave him a furious glare. "Excuse me?! I was just trying to make you feel better!" Sure, she expected him to turn away from her, but she didn't deserve to be treated like that just because she cared about him. She thought he was making progress, but apparently, they were back to Square One, and he was still calling her a stupid girl. She was getting sick of his attitude and how he always belittled her.

He scoffed at her words. "By getting your nose too deep in my personal life? You have a strange way of cheering people up."

"Well, you were the one who kept dropping hints and making me ask! If you didn't want me to know about Maria, then why didn't you-" His eyes shot wide open when she said that name, and then a rage snapped within him. He had cut her off, suddenly grabbing her by the throat and pressing her body into the wall, almost suffocating poor Amy! She gasped, and when he seemed to squeeze more air from her lungs, she winced and looked at him with fright and confusion in her eyes.

"You have no right to mention her name." He looked murderous, like a frantic demon that wanted bloodshed. His bloodstained eyes were sending a thousand daggers into her soul. Eggman had been the only one to see this side of Shadow, a side that knew only rage and the need to kill, and now little Amy Rose is alone with this raging beast. The sight of his eyes were indeed frightening, and she found herself believing that he was too far gone. He was losing his sanity over his friend's death, over the need to eradicate humanity. And by saying Maria's name, he snapped and lost his grip, because he was sick and tired of her putting her nose in his life, ruining what he believed was Maria's justice, always interfering, making him doubt himself, confusing him by seeming like a reincarnation of Maria and bringing back memories that only made his heart twist into more painful knots. And a part of him wanted nothing more than to be rid of her, of this annoying pink brat who caused all of these problems for him. That part was trying to take over, trying to rid himself of this nuisance.

" . . . Shadow?" This thing that was threatening to take her life couldn't be Shadow. The Shadow she knew never tried to hurt her. He had been the one to save her from Prison Island! What has gotten into him to make him act like this?

"I can't stand hearing your mouth. I should've snapped your neck when you first challenged me." His other hand raised over her head, forming a beam of raw Chaos Energy called a Chaos Spear. Her eyes grew wide as she felt her life coming to an end. She had to snap him out of it somehow.

" . . . Please snap out of it, Shadow." His grip tightened on her neck, making her wince in pain. She didn't want it to end this way. She didn't want Shadow to turn into a senseless monster. A tear leaked from her right eye, and then the left, and then they rolled down her chin and fell on his hand that threatened to choke her to death. The sight made him grip his head in pain, a sign that he was starting to come through. His grip loosened a little, and his fingers were trembling. She knew he wouldn't really hurt her. And he knew it too; how can he hurt someone that reminded him too much of the person he once lost? Even if he wanted to, it would be impossible now. Had he snapped her neck without knowing her or her knowing him, it wouldn't have crossed his mind as horribly as it did now. "I just wanted to help you."

"I don't need anyone's help." His grip tried to tighten again, but it kept loosening each and every time. His eyes were losing the dull shade of blind rage and returning to reality. She wanted to save him from himself, from his past that threatened to destroy his future.

"But you always look so lonely." His eyes shot wide open as he looked up at her. She reached out to hold his cheek with the softest touch, like a fluttering feather. It was a mother's touch, the kind that could only be that gentle from immeasurable kindness and compassion. "So depressed . . . and yet you refuse to let anyone get too close because you're afraid that they'll get taken away from you again. I know you said it's stupid . . . but I do care about you, Shadow the Hedgehog."

And in that instant, he lost any and all rage within himself. His eyes had shifted to astonishment as he gazed into her emerald green eyes. It was silent for a moment, but to the stars, that silence meant he was rebounding from his demonic state once again. How a simple young girl could crack open his cold and vengeful shell over time and even desire to fulfill the hole in his heart is astounding. This girl, who seemed to be just some little girl with too much energy in her petite body, was capable of saving the planet from a demonic creation that swore vengeance for his deceased friend.

Because he found a new friend in her.

" . . . Amy." She felt herself about to smile when he said her name that gently, but not yet. There was one last thing that she wanted to say before he could see her glowing smile once more.

"If that makes me stupid, then I'm a happy fool."

It was small and pitying him, something he never liked seeing in her eyes, but it was still captivating. His heart had shifted entirely, and he suddenly released her without warning, making her yelp and plop to the ground. She panted for air for a moment before looking up at him questionably. She wanted him to say something, anything to assure her that he accepted her caring hand this time, and that he would stop shoving her away. But his back was facing her. She wanted so badly to read his face.

" . . . Hmpf." Unknown to little Amy, he was hiding a weakness she had revealed within himself. He had missed Maria's presence the moment she was taken from him. He thought he had lost the only person who cared, who made his dark clouds float away in order to shine some light over him. He missed her light, her warmth, her kindness and caring so similar to an angel at his side, but at that moment, as he felt a single tear slip from his right eye, he knew that he had never been alone. Maria's body was gone, but she must've wanted to return to him ever-so terribly after her death that some God up above gave Amy Rose a similar spirit. Like a reincarnation that was destined to meet him, to fill that hole in his chest, and to make him remember what it felt like to be cared for. "Then have it your way."

She smiled in relief; he was finally giving up on trying to force her away. Amy's determination is something no one can deter quite that easily. Not without a fight. Besides, she just wanted to make him happy again. What's the harm in that?

_**BOOM!**_

Amy shrieked in surprise at the sudden loud boom. She snapped her head around to look out the window, where Shadow had his complete attention set on. "The laser again?!"

What she hadn't expected in response was a fist lightly hitting her on the top of her head. She looked up at Shadow's frown. "No, you imbecile." She wanted to stick her tongue out at him for ridiculing her again, and be a little on the playful side so he could relax around her more, but if he had really been joking around, he would've been smirking in her face as usual. He wasn't even looking at her in the eyes, but over her head, around her, and anywhere else, as if he was reluctant to say anything more. But something must've told him to tell her the truth, and so he sighed in defeat. "It was a capsule, and your blue hero just blew up again."

Her heart sank in an instant. She was going to panic at the thought of her hero being dead for real this time, and after supposedly dying on Prison Island too?! It was too much for her to take. "S-Sonic was in there!?" He had perished trying to save her. It was all her fault for being so weak that she couldn't help him when he was down, or at least attempting to escape. But she had been so preoccupied with Shadow until she nearly forgot that her friends were trying to save her. " . . . Sonic was alive after all . . . and he came to save me like I knew he would, but . . ." She was trying to wipe the sudden tears away from her eyes, but ten more replaced each one. Her legs felt like putty as she realized she had been wasting time sitting around and trying to make friends while their planet was still in danger, and while her friends were trying so hard to save her and Earth. "Not again." She had been worried enough after Shadow kidnapped her again and left Sonic unconscious on Prison Island when it was about to explode, while she never even knew if he survived or not up until now. And it took him actually dying in another explosion for her to find that out? Why was fate being so cruel to her right now? Her voice was starting to crack and became much quieter. "I didn't even get to see him again."

"See who, Ames?"

Her eyes snapped wide open at that familiar voice. Her head lifted to look down the hallway, and only a few meters away stood her blue hero, without a scratch on him and giving her that glowing smile! " . . . Sonic?" Was she dreaming? Was she that devastated by the news until her mind was making a mirage? But she knew it wasn't fake when he stepped closer, his shoes clanking on the hard tile floors. And even Shadow had turned at the sound of his voice and acknowledged his presence! He was shocked, no doubt, but not as surprised as Amy. Or anywhere near as overjoyed. "Sonic!" Joyful tears spilled out of her eyes as she gazed at him again, never looking away, or else she might lose him. But a part of her was a bit angry with him also. "Don't scare me like that ever again! I thought I lost you!"

He chuckled nervously and began to scratch the side of his face, feeling awfully guilty for doing that to her. He knew she cared about him a lot, and her thinking he was dead yet again could eradicate the shine of her glowing personality. He hated making her feel this way and cry so much. He never wanted to hurt her like this. Hopefully, his usually chipper and relaxed perspective could help her calm down a bit and smile again. "Heh, heh. Sorry about that. But luckily, this Emerald saved my life!" He pulled out the fake yellow Emerald that Tails had invented to eradicate the system of the Eclipse Cannon and stop the fatal shot from destroying Earth. He smiled at its dull shine. "I didn't think it'd actually work!"

"I thought you had a blue Emerald." He shrugged, dictating in his mind whether to go into explanation or not. He figured Tails could tell her all about it later.

"It's a long story." And then he suddenly got serious, remembering why he was there in the first place when his eyes were set on the black and red creature that nearly killed him the first time. And he had also been the one to kidnap Amy in the first place. He put the fake Emerald away and got into a fighting position just in case. "Now let her go, Shadow, before this gets ugly."

He merely smirked and pried Amy up to her feet. "And what are the chances of that happening? Below zero."

"Shadow, can't you-" He covered her mouth with his other hand and pried her into his torso, making her yelp in surprise. Sonic definitely didn't like that at all. And he really didn't like that Shadow looked like he was biting the tip of her ear!

"What the-! . . . Get off of her, you sick bastard!"

But silly Sonic misinterpreted what had really happened right in front of him. Shadow was actually muttering something in her ear so silently that Sonic couldn't hear it correctly, if his ears could pick up on it at all.

"Did you forget that you're a captive? I can't just allow you to walk away, or let the intruders go slate free." Her eyes grew wide at his words. For him to go through the trouble of telling her this secretly must mean that he was trying to give her a clue. And it didn't take long for her to realize that he was keeping up his evil profile in front of Sonic, but he meant no harm to her in reality. She nodded her head just slightly to let him know that she got it without dropping obvious hints to Sonic. She had to stop herself from smiling though, since he had finally accepted her compassion.

" . . . Because you're our enemy. Right." He smirked; she was finally comprehending his methods without screaming at him first. If she had been a little more compliant or actually thought over why he does such things much earlier without trying to play God, he would've tolerated her more. He looked up at Sonic's irritated face and his mocking smirk grew wider.

"So you induced Chaos Control with a fake Emerald. Hmpf. You're not as pathetic as I thought." And he decided it would be fun to pour gas on the fire. His hand snaked up to Amy's cheek, startling her as he cradled her face closer to his. A deep scarlet painted her cheeks as she looked up at him, but his beautiful ruby eyes were staring at Sonic trembling with rage with an amused sneer. "But you'll have to do better than that to even have a chance at beating me." And as if holding Amy so closely and looking like he was going to kiss her in front of her blue hero wasn't irritating enough, he had the audacity to nip at her neck!

"Ah!" Well, she definitely didn't expect any of that from him, and it was embarrassing enough with just the idea, but in front of Sonic too?! She wanted to crawl in a hole and die there. Sonic was at a breaking point, mostly because if Shadow would go so low as to mark her while she was only twelve . . .

"Get your dirty hands off of her right now!" She had never seen him look so angry. In a way, she was flattered; was he getting jealous? But this wasn't exactly the time to think about such things. Besides, he had a right to be so pissed off, considering that the guy who threatened to snap Amy's neck and kidnapped her and nearly blew him up had just nipped at her neck and almost kissed her right in front of him!

"There's not a smudge on my hand, if that's what you mean." But Sonic wasn't laughing. He looked drop dead serious, and Amy swore she could see a dark black aura emitting from his body. She wasn't the only one; Shadow could see it too. And he knew that it was real. He had seen it before and what happens to Sonic later, but Amy knew nothing about it.

"Just what the hell did you do to her all of this time?" She flushed in mortification at that. She buried her head in her hands to hide her face in shame. Oh, dear Chaos, what did he think they had been doing?! Didn't he know that she would've drove her hammer into Shadow's skull if he did anything funny?

But the hedgehog in question only shrugged and angled Amy's face higher to his level. That superior smirk was still sketched over his muzzle while he gazed at her teasingly. "Nothing she didn't want me to do."

Her jaw dropped in horror while her entire face burnt a siren red. She gasped in mortification. "Sh-Sh-Shadow?!" Why was he saying such things?! Just to make Sonic angry?

Sonic's dark aura was getting bigger and stronger. Amy was shivering from the feeling it was giving off. But Shadow seemed completely oblivious, even though he clearly wasn't. "She's twelve, you disgusting bastard!"

"Sonic, nothing happened-" But Shadow placed a finger over her lips to silence her.

"Well, you can't really say that, can you, Rose? A lot has happened that changed my outlook. Perhaps you're not as bad as I first assumed." Her eyes grew wide, finding hidden messages as he was speaking. He just admitted that he tolerates her more. He won't shove her away as much like he used to or treat her like she's so incompetent. He was willing to accept her as a friend and stop the past from restricting his future.

" . . . Shadow."

"Instead of snapping your neck, I have much bigger plans for you." His hand holding her cheek had suddenly pulled her in far too close, nearly gracing her lips with his own. "And I think you'll enjoy it." She was frozen in shock, not knowing what to do, and with Sonic looking close to exploding, she didn't dare move an inch and risk accidentally losing her first kiss to someone who wasn't her Sonic. It was just a facade to make his blue counterpart pop a vein, but Shadow's voice was dangerously enticing while standing so close to him, eyes locked on each other while she was at his mercy.

" . . . That does it." And to Amy's complete horror, Sonic's fur changed to a midnight blue nearing black, and his emerald green irises she adored so much had vanished to show only the whites of his eyes. He seemed to be snarling at Shadow, and then he suddenly lunged himself towards the two with a fierce scowl. "You're done for!"


	9. Chapter 9

_**In The Last Chapter:**_ Shadow's cold heart found warmth within the care and friendship of little Amy Rose. But when Sonic suddenly intrudes, Shadow goes back to playing the bad guy and angers Sonic into becoming Dark Sonic once again! And Amy, having seen this form for the first time, is horrified at what her usually calm and relaxed hero has turned into. He has lunged for a deadly attack!

* * *

"I'd suggest holding on."

That was all Shadow had said to her after lifting her up into his arms and away from an enraged Sonic. But he was yelling threats to Shadow and racing right after him at a deadly pace. Clearly, he was out for blood. Amy could barely hear him or register what was going on. Her complete focus and attention was locked on the midnight blue hedgehog who had taken away her sweet Sonikku. He had lost his beautiful emerald green irises behind the whites of his eyes that clouded his judgment and reasoning. He almost hit her when he tried to pounce at Shadow, but he seemed too focused on taking out Shadow to realize that she was too close to his target to risk hurting her. "That Faker's lost it."

And then she remembered what led to Sonic's boiling anger in the first place. With a stern scowl, she glared at the ebony hedgehog and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, it's your fault! Did you really have to say things like that and . . ." She trailed off, a blush growing on her cheeks as she pictured how close his face had been to hers, so close to sealing her lips and her first kiss. Although she had nearly lost herself in those ruby eyes and that dark chocolate voice that dripped with the ultimate sexiness and- My god, what was she thinking!?

He looked at her as a sign for her to spit it out already, but she had so quickly averted her eyes. " . . . And what, Rose?" He had a good idea of what she was going to mention and smirked.

Her voice became quiet, timid and bashful. " . . . Did you really have to do stuff like that in front of him?"

"Then would you rather I do it in private?" Her eyes grew wide as she gawked at his comment. Her cheeks were turning a darker shade of pink, along with the rest of her face. The ideas were so scandalous, but soon her timidness was replaced with rage. How dare he, that arrogant hedgehog! Only her Sonic would be allowed to be romantic with her!

"Y-Y-You big pervert!" He rolled his eyes in amusement. Those outbursts and overreactions at his little jokes were one bright side to her over energetic personality. It was amusing to see her squirm, to say the least. Until, of course, she decided to suddenly flick her wrist and summon her giant mallet. "I'm not afraid of using my hammer on you right now."

He paid her skull-bashing weapon no mind though. His smirk remained on his muzzle as he glided down the hallways feeling obviously superior, like he preferred it. "The way you were blushing back there, I'd say you were enjoying yourself. It was your responses that made him believe everything I said." And on cue, they heard Sonic's cries of outrage as he began to tear through walls to catch up to them! Amy squeaked in fear and instinctively buried her head into Shadow's warm and fuzzy chest, a place that seemed to easily calm her down and was too inviting to pull away from after pulling that stunt. They reached what seemed to be a dead end, and Shadow cursed aloud as he put Amy down and braced himself. He managed to still play off a relaxed and teasing air, something that succeeded in ticking Amy off somewhat, and kept her mind away from their upcoming danger. "And the way you clung to me a second ago just makes me question if you're as committed to that Faker as you say."

She scoffed and glared at him, all the while putting more space between them. "Don't even flatter yourself. My heart beats only for my Sonic."

"But does he really assume that I'd do something so degrading?" Shadow scoffed in annoyance, glaring down the hallway as the midnight blue hedgehog raced straight towards them in his spiky ball form, propelling himself towards them. "That dumbass." And right on cue, Shadow caught Sonic's spinning form in his grip, but Sonic kept spinning, hoping to overpower Shadow's defenses. Both were trying to overpower the other, but luckily, Shadow had a plan in mind. He suddenly spun around and practically slam dunked Sonic into the ground before pressing his foot over the boy's throat. It would force him to calm down a bit and get his breathing, and his mind, in check.

"He only lashed out because he cares about me!" Shadow merely looked at her with a questionable glance, still pressing his foot on Sonic's throat.

"So lunging at us and nearly hitting you while going for me means he cares about you?" She grew quiet at that, her eyes glancing at the blue mess on the ground. He had shifted back to normal, thankfully, and Shadow wasted no time placing the fake yellow emerald in Sonic's hand while he was still in a daze and shouted, "Chaos Control!" He made Sonic teleport to some unknown place, but Shadow and Amy remained where they were. "You can thank me later."

"He can't think straight, that's all. He should be fine now, though." And then he'd come racing back to find her, no doubt. She could only hope that he wouldn't come back as Dark Sonic, but as the blue hero she had always admired and loved.

"And that's an excuse for hurting someone precious?" Shadow scoffed. Even if he had been on the brink of madness, he wouldn't dare hurt Maria had she been near his intended target, or risk hurting her. Sonic better be careful with that dark form of his.

Amy stared at Shadow with a little smile growing on her lips. "Maybe and maybe not . . . but _you_ protected me." He narrowed his eyes at her, noting that she was suddenly close by and practically staring in his face. She was watching his expression now, with that gleam of naive joy in her eyes like a child's, just waiting to see the weak spot in his shield that guarded his every thought and emotion from being seen. "Does that mean I'm precious to you now?" And then, while pretending to act bashful, holding her cheeks and blushing at the idea, she teased, "Little ol' me?" And of course, she giggled, thinking that it was cute of him to care about her, despite how he tried to act as if he didn't care at all. Trying to act like a ferocious lion when he was really just a little cub.

Shadow seemed like a statue for a moment, until he smirked, a cruel idea in mind. And poor Amy became a victim of another prank as he moved the hands on her cheeks so that he could cradle her chin and move her face closer to his. At this, she blushed much more, and she was no longer laughing. She was constantly looking from his eyes dancing in excitement and beckoning for her to come closer, to his lips that were starting to look more and more inviting the closer her face was pulled to them. Yes, Shadow was a handsome hedgehog with such an alluring voice that he could possibly sway plenty of females to succumb to his spell.

But Amy had felt more vulnerable by it.

Her eyelids were starting to fall, closing her eyes tight so she wouldn't see the upcoming- so she wouldn't see that someone else got to her before Sonic, but before the expected lip-to-lip contact ever connected, she felt a large hand covering her face instead! She blinked in shock as she looked at Shadow sneering at her. "And you said you were committed." She felt humiliated, but mainly irritated at his way of making a joke. She stuck her tongue out at him, but he shoved it back in her mouth with his index finger. He was getting close again, making her feel weak and small. Which she practically is when up against a guy as strong as Sonic. But she never expected him to whisper something so scandalous to her. "What? You want it with tongue now?"

"Wh-What!?" Her entire face burnt crimson as she practically screamed in shock. She didn't even know that people used tongue! It sounded weird, but strangely alluring. But she forced it all out of her head so she could yell something back at this overconfident hedgehog. However, he covered her mouth again and beat her to the punch.

"Don't even flatter yourself. My heart beats only for Maria." He wasn't exactly smirking anymore, but he did reference the phrase she had said to Shadow when Dark Sonic was plowing through the walls minutes ago; he just replaced Sonic's name with Maria's.

" . . . I feel like you were half serious."

"I was."

She put her hands on her almost nonexistent hips as she glared at him, utterly appalled at what he was implying. "I'm not trying to replace her, Shadow. I just want to heal the wound left behind when you lost her." Confusing her wholehearted motives again, despite already admitting that she was only befriending him out of the kindness and compassion of her heart? Why was he still acting as if she was his enemy?

"And when another is gone, the wound will open again. Don't curse me with a replay of what I've already lost. That is why I trust no one. It's not as if you really compare anyways."

Okay, now he's crossed the line!

Was she supposed to just stand there and take his insults, his constant attempts to deny her kindness or shove away her compassion just because of something that happened in the past? And then he had the nerve to compare her to someone else, as if he would only accept her if she was an exact replica of Maria, both in body and in spirit. She stood in front of him, emerald eyes dancing with a determined fire burning behind her irises, and told him firmly, "I'm not trying to be Maria for you, Shadow. I am Amy Rose the Hedgehog, the one and only, and that's how you'll have to take me. Her time has already passed, and she can't come back, but I am here, right in front of you, and that's what should matter most to you right now."

He was startled no less by her serious face and the words that slammed a harsh reality right on his skull much worse than her mallet ever could. He knew all of that, but she was confusing his mind and his heart. Her compassion, her smiles, her stubborn attitude. Why did she have to have a spirit almost like her? Why did she have to bring back those old memories with Maria that he could never have again? Why couldn't he stay mad at her or let her explode on Earth like he should've done and just stuck to his plan? She had made him question everything he stood for. It was giving him a migraine, and he held his forehead and groaned in pain.

She looked at him in concern and reached out to help him, but he slapped her hand away, trying to glare at her, but he couldn't. His eyes looked lost and confused, but almost made Amy think he was looking at her with his own compassion, something that really startled her to disbelief. " . . . But I am trying to help you, but you won't let me."

"Because I never asked for it."

She rolled her eyes. Men and their pride sometimes. "Well, unfortunately for you, whether you want me to or not, I care about you, so you're just going to have to deal with it." He merely groaned in response, annoyed with his growing headache. This girl was such a nuisance, always clinging to him like a koala despite how he always tried to pry her off. She was worse than a cockroach. But perhaps that was the greatest thing about her; her unwavering compassion and concern, even after being turned away. She knew when something was wrong and only wanted to help him. She had been like that from the start, even while he was shoving her away, even while he was calling her stupid, and even after he nearly suffocated her to death. And why? _I care about you, Shadow the Hedgehog_. Those words were something he never expected to hear, and he never expected her to care enough to try and make him happy again, even though she knew that he was planning on blowing up the Earth. "And I expect you to stop this revenge plan, because this chaos won't bring her back. It won't stop that ache in your chest. Giving everyone else your pain might just put the same fate you had on them. That won't make you any better than the human who killed her."

He felt an immediate urge to snap at her for even daring to compare him to the bastard who killed Maria, but he had no right to do that. He did just compare her to Maria, as if she had to be just like her in every single way in order to be worth anything to him. He bit his tongue this time and sighed heavily. "They don't deserve life anyways. They're selfish, disgusting, carnivorous creatures that would feed off of their own kind for their own selfish gains. So tell me how a species so vile still deserves the gift of life, after slaying an angel." He was containing his rage by clenching his fists. Amy knew he was scarred forever after what he saw, but his mind had gotten so corrupted after losing Maria. She couldn't yell at him for thinking that way, or get angry because of how he slandered the human race, because he was partly right. She reached for one of his shaking fists and smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder to let him know that she was there to support him, to lean on, to trust in.

"It's true that there are bad people on Earth, but not _all_ of them are bad. Some are just troubled and take it out on others, kind of like how I see you." His grip loosened as he looked at her curiously. She thought he was a damsel in distress to his own mind? Is that what she meant by trying to help him? Considering that Maria's death and giving her justice was what troubled him, he thought for a moment that she may be right. "And some are truly evil like Eggman. But the Earth also has _good_ people like Sonic and me and all of my friends who want to make the world a better place for the children and all the inhabitants, and so we're always trying to stop the bad people from hurting others." Bad people like Eggman and Shadow, since he was about to hurt everyone on Earth, something Amy and all of her friends couldn't allow. "But you know something? Everyone has the chance to do better and be better while they're living and breathing. Everyone makes mistakes and can learn from them and move on. And you know something else? Maria was one of those good people too!"

" . . . Maria?" His eyes grew wide as he pictured her shoving him in that escape pod, making sure that those soldiers wouldn't hurt him. She stopped them from hurting Shadow, just like what a good person would do. She always told him about going to Earth and telling stories to the little children, making them happy and of course looking at the new world with her best friend Shadow the Hedgehog. She was an angel to the end.

"So if not for her, do it for me: give them all the chance **. . . to be happy**." He looked at Amy in shock, suddenly hearing Maria's voice in sync with hers. And then he suddenly remembered something he hadn't remembered before: her last words before she was shot, before he lost everything, and before his mind became clouded in darkness for fifty years.

_"There's no way around this, huh? Since only one of us can go, it's important to me that you go first."_

_"Maria! You're being stupid! They'll kill you!"_

_"Either way, one of us won't make it out, but I want to make sure that you do because you're my friend. Shadow? I don't want you to hate them no matter what happens to me. Prove to them that you're not as bad as they want to believe you are. Listen, to me, Shadow. You were created to do more than just protect me; you were created to protect the humans once you were perfected. I guess your time has come a little early, but as for my own . . ."_

_"You don't have to do this!"_

_"Please live on for me, Shadow. Do what I won't get the opportunity to: give everyone a chance to be happy."_

_"Maria! Behind you!"_

_"And remember that I'll always lo-"_

**_BAM!_**

_" . . . Maria? Maria?! YOU BASTARDS KILLED HER!"_

_". . . Not . . . yet . . . My work here . . . I still have to . . ."_

_"M- . . . Maria?"_

_"Sayonara . . . Shadow the . . . Hedgehog."_

_"MARIAAAAAA!"_

Amy stared at his sudden long silence in confusion, until she saw something she never thought she would see from him: Shadow the Hedgehog had actually shed a tear right in front of her! She could only stand there and gawk in utter astonishment. And then a part of her realized that she had broken his cold exterior. Somehow, Amy was able to say something that triggered his compassionate emotions to unfold in front of her very eyes. She smiled knowingly at him, and remained silent, wanting for him to have his moment in peace.

However, what Shadow didn't realize was that while in his trance, a sudden video-recording displaying Gerald and his insane plans for the Eclipse Cannon as the countdown sealed the fate of Earth, and even everyone on Space Colony ARK, because when all seven Chaos Emeralds are in place, the entire colony propels itself through space and will soon collide with Earth for complete and utter destruction! And the video continued to loop, with the counter ticking down to zero with each second, until the world would suffer like he did. But just shortly afterwards did Shadow speak, as if he had been reborn into a new being. " . . . It's all clear now. I let my past control my future, and the world's fate, but now I realize just what Maria truly wanted me to do with my life after sacrificing herself for my sake. If only Gerald figured it out fifty years ago . . ." Just like Shadow, he had been blinded with rage and wanted nothing more than to seek vengeance for Maria, but she never wanted that. In fact, Gerald was screwing up the simple wish Maria had asked for before dying! Shadow's new priorities were straightened out now.

He had to stop that thing from destroying the future Maria wanted.

"I have to go. I have to keep my promise to Maria . . ." He looked at the little pink girl beside him, remembering what her request had been, and how much she had done since the beginning. She went from being a nuisance to being his light, a light he had lost fifty years ago. She wasn't like Maria down to the last detail, but in her own way, she was just as important, because both of them were such angelic, naive, and compassionate creatures that only wanted everyone to be happy. But unlike Maria, Amy was a tough little girl with a huge mallet to boot. She wouldn't be taken down that easily.

_Perhaps, once more . . ._ _Once more, but with no repeated endings._

"And you." Her eyebrows lifted high in shock at those last two quiet words as he went to fulfill Maria's wish. She stared at him in shock, trying to figure out what promise did he mean. Did Maria once ask him the same thing she just did? That can't be, but after Shadow compared her to Maria, it seemed quite likely.

" . . . And . . . me?" She pointed at herself, still a bit shocked that he said that. Did that also mean that he cared about her as much as he cared about Maria?

"Must I repeat myself?" Oh, well. That didn't matter that much anyways. What Amy did know was that Shadow was going to help her save the Earth!

"So you'll help us stop the laser!?" He scoffed at her question, almost finding it rhetorical. The way her eyes were sparkling and beaming with too much joy to even comprehend, she almost startled him, but he merely smirked. Overreacting again. But it was nice to have someone so positive neutralizing the negativity he once had, just like Maria used to do. With her, he felt like Maria never really left him, like that piece of his heart that he thought had died with her was back again. He felt whole again, as if he had the means to be happy once more with his new life after stopping that laser. Everyone would be happy, even Shadow, who had been nothing but unhappy for over fifty years.

"Stupid girl. What else did you think I was going to do?" He was getting ready to race for the room where the Emeralds would be in with his super speed, since he needed to stop that Eclipse Cannon as soon as possible. The cannon was counting down, displaying the last minutes of life on Earth and on the Space Colony ARK, but there was still some time to disengage it. However, Amy desperately called out to him before he ran off.

"Wait, Shadow!" He scowled a little, hoping that she had a good reason to waste more precious time. This was a desperate situation they were in. She ran up beside him, still smiling with genuine joy making her almost shine brighter than the stars. "Before you go . . ."

Whatever he had expected her to do wasn't exactly how it ended up. No silly questions or comments, but a bold move on her part. She had held his right cheek and tenderly kissed his left side out of the blue, and since Shadow was quite foreign to any sort of romantic experiences, despite how he had teased her thus far, he could only stand there, shocked and almost speechless. And she wasn't ashamed or regretting her actions either; she was still smiling at him as if she didn't just kiss someone other than her Sonikku, the boy she had been proclaiming her love over for so long. Maybe it was just for good luck or something. Or did she succumb to his mysterious charms and his change of heart that made him seem so much more compassionate now? Females were strange and confusing creatures . . .

"Thank you," she whispered. He looked at her, and then looked away, feeling uncomfortable with the situation. She probably thought he was some punk weak at the heart and now she thought he was being 'cute' or 'sweet' or some other degrading word for an Ultimate Life Form. She was almost insulting him indirectly, but knowing her innocent nature, she was most likely just happy that she finally got through to him.

" . . . It shouldn't take long to stop it. I should be back soon, but the life I shall begin anew will be a strange and difficult challenge."

"Alone it would be, but I promise to help you along the way. I'm so glad that you're on our side, Shadow. The others will be so happy." He dared to look at her again, and of course, she was still beaming with so much joy that it was becoming contagious, as if it were impossible for even him to resist for long. She had always been there: correcting him, guiding him, shining a light over the dark corridors of his mind, neutralizing his negative emotions and thoughts, encouraging him to embrace the now and coming to terms with his past without dragging everyone through the hell he went through as payback. All of that pep talk, preaching and counseling led to him realizing Maria's true wish and giving her the justice she truly wanted all along. And he couldn't have figured it out without Amy's help.

He smirked. His former angel may been gone, but a new one was right beside him, moving him forward. He poked at her forehead with his index finger, and then pressed his finger on her bottom lip, catching her complete attention. He leaned closer to her, making her a little confused and nervous.

" . . . I'm still not giving you tongue." And with that, he raced off, leaving Amy flustered and embarrassed. But soon her anger kicked in to hide the fact that her cheeks were scarlet from humiliation. He could hear her voice booming despite being so far away in a few seconds, yelling some kind of insult at him.

"YOU IDIOT! WHEN YOU GET BACK HERE, MY HAMMER WILL BE SO FAR UP YOUR ASS!"

He merely chuckled. And here he thought she was used to his teasing by now, but apparently not, especially when it came to any signs of romance that didn't involve her and Sonic. And she still has a bit of a potty mouth too. Still, it's not as if Shadow would leave without keeping his usual impressions. He didn't want her to think of him as some weakling who leaked a tear in front of her, as a cub who pretended all of this time to be a fierce lion. That was degrading and a bad way to begin his new life. He wouldn't start off being underestimated because of his change of heart. He was, is and always will be the Ultimate Life Form no matter what side he took on.

Still, as he listened and heard the shouts and screams of Eggman and Rouge and Sonic and his friends nearby, he knew that he would never be the same. He took a sharp turn, nearing the lower deck where the Chaos Emeralds would be hiding after all seven were in place in order to secure the cannon's performance would go on to the end. If they could remove the Emeralds or somehow drain their power, everything would stop. Should be easy enough. And to think that if he hadn't met Amy, he wouldn't be here, trying to stop the very thing that he had initially started.

" . . . Thank you, Amy. For everything."


	10. Chapter 10: Finale

**_In the Last Chapter:_** Taking care of Dark Sonic was easy for a more rational and mentally stable Shadow the Hedgehog. Despite how he still was hesitant on trusting in Amy as a friend, or simply dropping his goals to blow up the Earth, she finally got through to him completely. He realized that Maria's dying wish was for him to make everyone happy, that she never wanted him to hate humans, and that he was created to actually _protect_ the humans, until the government saw his strength as a threat. Now with his change of heart and new priorities, he has to stop the ARK from crashing into Earth and destroying everyone! Can he and everyone on the ARK pull it off?

* * *

Okay, so maybe it wouldn't be as simple as Shadow first assumed. He realized that as he simply strolled into the room and saw the gigantic lizard shrieking as it blasted numerous balls of violet energy towards Sonic. He could barely keep up, and it seemed as if the red echidna he called Knuckles was trying to do something with that legendary Master Emerald Rouge could never shut up about, and so Sonic had to buy time by distracting it. It seemed as if the creature was supposed to guard the Emeralds when the Eclipse Cannon was ready to launch the ARK at Earth, in case someone tried to get in the way. Well, they didn't think of Shadow coming into the scene and taking it down himself!

"Leave that thing to me." His voice definitely caught everyone's attention, especially Sonic's. And the blue hero was definitely not happy to see him again after their last mishap.

"And why should we trust you? You planned this whole thing with Eggman in the first place!" Shadow glanced back at Rouge and Eggman keeping away from the chaotic over-sized lizard. He scoffed and glared at his cobalt counterpart, utterly offended.

"Well, you didn't seem to mind having him 'helping', so why not me? Besides, going by the looks of things, I'd say you need all the help you can get. And I'm plenty." He casually strolled towards the raging beast while Sonic was still barely avoiding the violet orbs that were constantly flying at him. And then the beast suddenly swung its tail at Sonic when he was in the air in mid-dodge, knocking him over and into the hard floor. Shadow paid no attention to Sonic trying to get up again, but merely held up a hand to tell him to stop. "Step aside, Faker."

" . . . So you're telling me that you wanna play good guy now?" He stood up and strolled nearby Shadow, eyeing him in suspicion while dusting himself off. "What's the catch, Shadow?"

"Circumstances and other things have changed. Now, must I repeat myself again?" He suddenly shoved Sonic aside, making him tumble back for a moment before catching his balance. He glared at the untrustworthy ebony hedgehog that had suddenly stepped into his stage. Before Sonic could argue again, his little fox friend Tails jumped in front of him, blocking him from going any further.

"Just let him do it, Sonic. He's right about us needing help."

And in the background, Knuckles' loud voice boomed to also give his comment on Sonic and Shadow's quarreling. "Plus, your arguing is distracting me. Do _something_ and just get rid of that thing!"

Sonic scowled, obviously not pleased with how everyone was just letting Shadow do what he wanted without question. This guy was not to be trusted. It's not like he's Eggman, a villain that knew when to stop the quarreling and work together with his enemies if- and **_only_** if- it was life or death. Shadow was a mystery; who knew if he was still determined to let this madness go on and kill everyone on Earth and on the ARK along with himself. But Sonic had no choice, given their situation. Time was ticking here!

He huffed in reluctance. " . . . Fine, but no funny business."

His succumbing to his desperate friends' wishes despite being completely against it made Shadow smirk. _Pathetic. In no way can this Faker be my equal._ "Hmph. Same to you."

Knuckles muttered his sarcastic thanks after Sonic finally made up his mind and continued with his sacred ritual, eyes closed and hands hovering around the Master Emerald as it glowed brightly at his chanting. "Oh, Master Emerald. Hear my cry . . ."

And while Knuckles was busy trying to use the Master Emerald to deactivate the power of the Chaos Emerald that was making Space Colony ARK move through space and eventually slam into Earth, Shadow swiftly jumped into action. He quickly leaped from left to right, dodging each orb and tail swipe from the Biolizard, until it gave a clear opening to the large plate on its back. Shadow wasted no time leaping on its tail, then high above it, and then suddenly shouted, "Chaos Spear!"

Beams of raw Chaos energy formed around him, shaping themselves into spears and firing rapidly towards the reptile's obvious weak point. It shrieked in pain, flinging its head back and trying to move away from its enemy, but Shadow was relentless. He propelled himself into the weak point again and again, causing more shrill cries to echo within the room, only distracting Knuckles more. He could barely hear himself, but struggled forward. Everyone else could only stand and gawk and stare at the battle in awe.

"Wow, he's doing a lot better than you were." Sonic scoffed at his little two-tailed buddy and merely smirked and shrugged.

"So he has a few tricks that I don't like making fireworks. I'm still the fastest blue hedgehog on the block, the one and only Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The beast cried out again, this time unleashing several purple spheres all around him to protect himself, already growing weak to it knees. Shadow merely smirked and spindashed into the ones at the bottom, steadily making his way over the beast once again, and then slammed his spiky spinning form into the big glowing orb on its back once more. It cried out one last time before finally collapsing, completely defeated. Tails poked at Sonic's oblivious form a few times to get his attention.

" . . . Uh, Sonic? He already beat it."

To which Sonic spun around with his jaw dropped like a fool and gawked at what quick work Shadow made of the beast. "Say what?!" His eyes weren't playing tricks on him, right?

Shadow sneered as he simply strolled back to the blue hero with triumph and superiority clear on his smug face. "Hmph. Of course I did. I'm the Ultimate Life Form for a reason."

And of course, Sonic was still not buying Shadow's sudden change of heart bullcrap. "You know way too much about this place, even how to beat that giant gecko! I'm getting the feeling that you knew about this colony and that it would start falling to Earth when you put in all seven Emeralds."

Shadow smirked, glancing at the curious Eggman that suddenly wanted to eavesdrop into the conversation. And Rouge was doing the same, although it wouldn't be hard with her large ears. He simply shrugged carelessly. "I did, but now I'm stopping it for my own reasons."

Shock quickly came over everyone's face, and then anger, but Eggman was more furious than anyone else in the room. He suddenly stormed towards the guilty culprit and pointed one accusing finger right into Shadow's needle nose, something that he definitely did not appreciate. "So you played your own creator's grandson for a fool!?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the taller and wider human and slapped the man's hand away. "Wrong; he played _you_ for a fool. He was the one who created the plan; I simply put it into action. He knew what he had been doing and that he might destroy his descendants, but he didn't really care for anyone. Except one person, and she was taken away from him. You recall the documents, don't you? Since you and Rouge found our history so interesting."

Rouge froze in disbelief when he suddenly addressed her. Now everyone was looking at her gawking at Shadow. She was astounded that he actually knew what she had been doing while he seemed so preoccupied with Amy. When did he ever catch her red-handed? "Y-you knew all along?"

He scoffed. "You can't play me for a fool. I overheard your conversations with this 'Topaz' character about sending that disk to the government for your reward while you were trying to hide from my view. And unfortunately for you, I already destroyed it a while ago, while you were wasting time with Knuckles."

"Damn it all . . ." He smirked.

"So much for your jewels."

Then Eggman realized something and pointed out what could've been Shadow's greatest blunder. "You fool! But that also got rid of Maria's final journal! I thought you only wanted to work with me to read it!"

Shadow seemed to look at his feet for a moment, as if realizing the true consequences of his actions and regretting it, but just as quickly did he stare at Eggman right in the eyes and declare, "I already remembered her final words to me, and that's all I need to know. I've made up my mind."

While taking in the conversations that were happening right in front of him, Sonic only had more questions and confusions growing in his mind. It only made it more difficult to figure Shadow out. He only had one thing to say about all of it: "I still don't trust you."

Shadow glanced at his little audience and the blue nuisance who dared to make a comment when he hadn't been addressed in the first place. He glared at him. "Suit yourself, Faker; I don't really care."

As for Tails, he seemed to drift his attention all over the room: from the dead Biolizard to Shadow to Eggman to Sonic to Rouge to Knuckles and then back to Shadow again. He had barely tapped into Shadow's confessions and conversations unless it involved something shocking or seemingly important to note to himself. And then, as his attention later focused back on Knuckles, his eyes grew wide and a wide grin beaming with hope and excitement came over him. He pried Sonic's arm like an eager child to get his attention. "Hey, guys! The Chaos Emerald's energy has been drained! The colony's gonna stop falling now!"

And just as he said, the feeling of being dragged through space had suddenly stopped, making most of them almost fall over from the sudden shift. Sonic was quick to break Tails' fall, but Shadow didn't care to help Eggman as he fell down nor when he was going to get back up. Instead, he smirked, secretly delighted that he had kept Maria's promise by saving Earth.

"Well, that was easier than I expected."

All too true, and unfortunately for him, it wasn't over yet. Suddenly, the assumed dead Biolizard had moved, as if it were waking up from unconsciousness, catching everyone's attention. Before Shadow could even act to take it down once and for all, it cried out as it began to fade away into nothingness. Only a few seconds later did the colony quake again, and they were all shocked to realize that they were moving again!

Knuckles was the first to comment. "What the heck is that thing up to?"

"Why are we still falling?!"

"Let's go to the upper deck and check it out," Sonic suggested. Everyone nodded and raced back to the higher level of the ARK to see what had happened. They all gasped and gawked as they noticed the Biolizard's head from outside of the large window. And of course, the little genius Tails was the first to connect the dots.

"It attached itself to the laser and it's pulling us to Earth by itself!"

In their eyes, the possibilities of slaying the beast seemed closer to zero now. They were all running out of options. None of them could simply go out in space without drifting through its endless void for all eternity. And then there was the fact that they couldn't breathe without air. Rouge sighed in defeat. "It's all over. How can we stop that thing now while in here?"

But who else to think of something- who else to still believe by merely hope and faith that everything will still be alright- but Sonic the Hedgehog. He suddenly snapped his fingers as he realized something very vital. "We still have the Chaos Emeralds, Rouge!"

Tails beamed as he instantly realized the plan. "Of course! If you can turn Super, you can wipe out that thing and stop the colony from moving!"

"But I can't do it alone . . ." Sonic turned his head to look at Shadow, catching his attention. He simply smirked.

"Looks like we have a common enemy."

Sonic sighed in reluctance. "As much as I don't want to, it's our last hope at saving Earth. There's too much at stake to act sour. So let's do it!"

Both of them ran ahead back to the secret lower deck where the Emeralds had been hidden. Only a second later did they both come back, Sonic carrying all seven Chaos Emeralds and Shadow lifting the Master Emerald. Since the Chaos Emeralds had lost their power, Knuckles needed to grant them their power back through the ancient relic that granted the seven stones such power. And as it clicked in Knuckles' mind, he quickly came up to the large glowing jewel and began his chant one last time. Shadow took his place beside Sonic and they both nodded their heads at each other one last time.

They closed their eyes, letting the slowly increasing power from all seven of the Emeralds embrace them and give them limitless strength. The power coursed through their veins as if penetrating their skin, flowing through their blood and empowering their hearts. The two heroes were not just changing from their insides, but their outsides as well. Their fur color began to shift to gold like their golden hearts, and Sonic's eye color morphed into a burning red of an undying determination to protect the Earth. And then his quills pointing up to the heavens as if asking whatever higher being resided there for the power needed to defeat the beast.

They were both glowing with unfathomable Chaos energy. The Chaos Emeralds had been revived and granted all of their sacred powers to the two heroes that were pure of heart. But they grew dull again just as quickly, low on energy after giving every powerful drop to Sonic and Shadow. This was their last hope. A second attempt like that wold not happen again, for that would drain the Master Emerald of its power and cause chaos between the balance of the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds.

And as their friends gawked at their immense strength and change in appearance, Tails broke the silence to begin the cheers. "They both turned Super!"

"Clobber that overgrown gecko!"

"It's all or nothing, boys."

"Enough stalling; just get rid of that thing!"

On that last note, they did just that, suddenly warping away as they simultaneously did a Chaos Control. And only seconds afterwards did a little pink dot peek her head into their room. She smiled as she realized that her two heroes had just left to fight for the entire world.

_I believe in you, Shadow. I'll be waiting for you._

* * *

A bright light suddenly beamed within the endless stars, but that was no regular star light. This was the light of a Chaos Control, and as that light faded, Sonic and Shadow appeared in its place. They instantly flew towards their greatest foe, appearing to be two comets soaring through the sky as their friends watched them fly through space.

As the two golden heroes halted in front of the Biolizard, it shrieked in surprise, possibly not expecting to see them both outside of the ARK that quickly, or surviving in space for that matter. Sonic smirked and wagged a finger in its face. "Don't you know when to stop?"

Shadow cracked his knuckles in preparation. "Now you have to face the two of us at our ultimate power!" Both hedgehogs stood confidently and proud in front of the large beast as they spread open their arms to block the Biolizard's path. Sonic was done playing around. There was too much at stake to let that thing have its way any longer. "You're stopping right here! Ready, Shadow?"

"Of course." The golden aura around them began to glow even brighter, expand even wider. The true power within their transformed bodies was beginning to show. And now that the beast knew they were much bigger threats now than ever before, it opened its mouth wide. A small violet orb of unknown power appeared in front of its mouth, but it quickly grew to a monstrous size, a size that rivaled its own form! And like a laser, it fired down at the two little targets, hoping to wipe them out in one move.

They propelled their hands forward, ready to take on the assault. It was getting closer, albeit slowly due to its size. Both of them began to gather all of the energy they could muster not only to destroy the blast, but to also make sure that the Biolizard would be no more, all in one shot.

Sonic glared down at the large purple orb aiming towards them. "This is for the Earth and everyone in it!"

As Shadow gathered all of his power that he could possibly muster, his two inhibitor rings suddenly slipped off from his wrists, and a larger aura than Sonic's wrapped around him. "For Maria . . . and Amy."

Sonic extended his hand. "Chaos!"

And Shadow extended his other hand, mirroring Sonic and mixing their blasts of energy together. "Control!"

As the two auras mixed together to form the burning light of justice and heroism, the dark violet ball of energy almost seemed to cower back in fear or slow down once both hedgehogs unleashed a fierce battle cry and sent forth two powerful bursts of Chaos Energy that combined for the Ultimate Power. The ray of light tore through space and the darkness within the enormous violet ball of death and destruction and once again brought peace and tranquility back to the Earth and the space colony as the beast shrieked in terror at its impending doom. the light was so magnificent, so blazing with justice and righteous power, that it not only eradicated the beast's attack, but it tore through the sphere to also eradicate the attacker. The Biolizard shrieked in agony as the light cast judgement upon its soul, stripping it of its soul and tearing apart its body into burnt smithereens that drifted throughout the endless bounds of space, never to terrorize the humans and the Mobians ever again.

The two heroes had done it; the world was once again safe. To think that it took the combined strength of Sonic the Hedgehog and the very creation that wanted the very destruction of Earth in the first place to save the planet. And with the light of their blast still beaming like the brightest star in the galaxy, they feel the power they had just used draining from them quickly. Since Sonic was used to such matters, he seemed relaxed and relieved that he was able to slay the wretched beast.

But as for Shadow . . .

_. . . Wait, what? My power . . . it's fading too quickly._

The sudden fatigue overcame his nervous system instantly. His fur had too quickly changed back to its normal state, and his eyelids were beginning to feel like lead. Already close to unconsciousness, he realized gravely that this was the end for him. He had finished his duties as the protector of Earth. Now he had to pass that job along to Sonic, the true blue hero of the current generation. After fifty years, he had finally done what he was supposed to, and with that in mind, he was ready to embrace death's gentle grip.

_My work here . . . is finally finished. I did good, huh, Maria?_

"Nice job we did there, huh, Shadow? Maybe you're not too bad after all." Sonic smiled happily as he began to look back at his darker counterpart. But when he finally noticed Shadow's fading state, he feared the worst. " . . . Shadow? Shadow!" He called out to him desperately as he drifted farther away from him. It looked like he was being pulled in by Earth's gravity, and Sonic knew that the moment he hit the ground, he'd be smashed to bits. Or being surrounded by flames from being flung into Earth's gravity at blinding speed would kill him first. He was a goner either way!

"Shadow, wait!" But Shadow was long gone, already letting his fate drift with space and send him to his upcoming ruin. He could feel the Earth's gravity pulling him in as he grew more and more drowsy. Sonic was appalled at what was happening. They had just saved the world together and at that moment, Sonic had been willing to let go of everything Shadow did to piss him off and finally trust him and try to become pals, or at least cease with their unnecessary fighting. And he was going to die in cold lonesome space like this?! After turning to the good side and saving the planet even though he was the cause of its demise? It wasn't right!

Before he could get to him, however, something caught his eye. Drifting farther away in some boundless direction was a gold bracelet. And then he saw another one just like it floating a bit further away from the other. He had quickly went to grab one, then the other, his eyes trying to remember why he felt as if they were familiar. " . . . Aren't these his . . ." His eyes grew wide in horror, slowly connecting the dots. Those rings were indeed Shadow's, but why were they removed? And why did Shadow easily pass out while Sonic was alright? Unless, perhaps, the rings were the reason why he collapsed from fatigue! Shadow needed them to control his immense power and not use it all at once, but he took them off before unleashing that blast with Sonic and drained all of his energy. His jaw dropped as he turned his head to see Shadow becoming a victim to gravity, starting to fall at a faster rate as Earth pulled him in. "Oh my god. Shadow!"

But then he paused, a sudden pull from within him rising. He winced and looked at his possible friend falling to his demise. He wanted to shoot for it and try to save him, but the Super form was near its limits already.

_No good. The power is fading from me too. If I don't go back now, I'll just end up dead with him_!

He would hate himself for this later. Some hero he was, and yet couldn't save poor Shadow after his valiant efforts and change of heart. A tear fell from his eyes as he shut them tight, trying to remind himself that they both couldn't make it back even if he tried. He had to hurry back to the ARK before he too fell victim to fatigue and the horror of space.

" . . . I'm sorry, Shadow."

* * *

"You did it!"

"Way to go, Sonic!"

"I never doubted you for a second, Big Blue."

"Next time, cool it with the light show."

The cheers meant nothing to him. He merely faked a smile and nodded, but he knew they'd catch on to his odd behavior and twitching grin that reeked of awkward lies. He couldn't even look them in the eyes; he saved everyone, alright, except for one person. And of all people, he didn't deserve to die after his change of heart. He would've been a great ally and friend, but he was gone. He'd perish in such a terrible and torturous way that scarred Sonic's mind with guilt for not saving him. His fake smile began to shift into a serious frown. He couldn't hide it any longer.

" . . . Where's Shadow?"

He froze, eyes wide in shock at who spoke, and also in horror as the question brought everyone's attention to the other hero that had yet to return. They all looked back at who spoke. It was Amy Rose, standing near the doorway, eyes not even focused on her blue hero, but darting at every square inch of the room for Shadow's body. Sonic looked at her with worry. While she had been kidnapped and trapped up in Space Colony ARK, she must've been getting closer to Shadow, hoping to be his friend and change him for the better. That's why he had a sudden change of heart and helped everyone. And while Sonic was realizing this and connecting the dots, he began to dread this very moment of horrid truth.

"Amy? Wh-Where were you all of this time?"

"You didn't answer me. Where is he, Sonic?" Her voice shifted from concerned to stern as she looked right at him. He wasn't answering her question, and her voice, although sounding edgy with fury, was really coated with fear for the worst scenario. She could see the reluctance in his eyes, and he could barely look at her, or anyone else, as everyone waited for him to explain.

_He couldn't have . . ._

" . . . I tried, Ames. I really did, but he's gone. I couldn't save him."

Her entire world began to crumble into dust in an instant. Silence lingered on everyone in the room, taking in what Sonic just admitted with utter shock and disbelief. Shadow was . . . gone? But how could it have happened? No one could understand why Shadow had suddenly left them after he had helped them save the planet. He could've been recruited as a new friend, a new heroic face to Earth. Why did he have to leave so soon?

Despite how everyone else was silent and frozen in flashbacks of Shadow with them, none were more affected by his sudden death than Amy. Two days with him and she practically walked through his past with him and set the steps towards his future. She was the one who begged him to save Earth and help them, but instead, her idea got him killed! She wouldn't see him again? But he promised her that he'd come back and he'd look for her to help him start his life anew! He always kept his promises, but now . . . He wasn't going to live to fulfill this last request.

"No . . . I don't believe you." She gripped the end of her dress tightly, trying to contain her emotions. Her head shook in disbelief as tears began to rise and fall down her cheeks like streams from a rushing waterfall. He was really gone? The guy who could've creamed her when they first met? The guy that placed a mask over his face to hide his sorrows and pain? The guy who pushed her away and yet wanted her closer at the same time? The guy who kidnapped her so that she wouldn't die from that explosion on Prison Island? The guy who captured her and dragged her to space so that he wouldn't die alone when he destroyed Earth? The guy who nearly choked her for haunting his mind with memories of a dead friend? The guy who lived his life hiding his real feelings in the shadows so he wouldn't get hurt again? The guy who turned over a new leaf and realized his true purpose through the girl he once called stupid and naive? That guy Shadow the Hedgehog, once a weapon meant for destruction, but found love and compassion, forgiveness and caring, through Amy Rose after their destined meeting and constant arguments?

He was gone, after everything they had gone through together?

She had been so quiet that everyone was getting worried. Sonic took one step forward, reaching out to her in worry. "Amy?"

Her head started shaking again. She couldn't accept this cruel fate. How could he leave her like this, after those two days of trying to change him for the better? After getting to know him and filling the hole in his heart with her caring and friendship? "He promised . . . He promised me that he'd come back. I promised him that I'd be there when he did!"

"He used up too much power at once. Practically made himself pass out to help us beat that oversized lizard, and then Earth's gravity dragged him in, and I had to decide whether to risk both our lives, or come back alone because I was getting worn out soon too. There wasn't much that I could do-"

_**"DON'T TELL ME THAT!"**_

He jumped back at her shriek, as did everyone else. Her eyes were blazing with rage, and even the water from her tears couldn't suppress it. The waves of emotions within her were like a mighty sea storm, crashing about wildly while the whirling winds stirred within her very core. She was furious because her hero she always loved and had complete faith in had actually failed her, and torn into pieces because her friend she grew to comfort and nurture was gone after everything they had been through and were going to do once this mess was over. It was enough to make her crumble to her knees from the weight of her pain and burdens. "Out of all of the people on Earth to say that . . . I can't believe even you couldn't save him." She turned away from him, ignoring his presence when he walked beside her, trying to make her look at him. She only shoved his comforting hands away.

"I'm really sorry, Amy." He knew that it was a double blow to her. He had wanted her to have faith in him, believe that he was able to save the day and be the hero she always knew he was in her eyes. She looked up to him and never thought bad of him when everyone had already confused him for Shadow. Out of everyone he knew, she had unwavering faith and belief in him as the blue hero that had saved her from Metal Sonic years ago. He was her rock, her entire world, and to experience his first epic blunder that would be the cause of her new beloved friend's death, she'd be heartbroken. He had failed her. Her devotion and faith in her hero had been shattered because this one time, he couldn't be the hero she knew him to be, and there was no saving Shadow at this point. He was probably already charred to bits, or crashed into Earth and was butchered by impact. Just the thought alone made his stomach churn in guilt and shame.

And then he suddenly realized something important.

Sonic reached back into the spines in his hair, fishing around blindly until he grabbed the two items he wanted. Putting them in front of him, he could hear Eggman and Rouge gasp or make some incoherent noise, already knowing the meaning behind the two rings in his hand. He didn't say a word as he merely dangled them over her shoulder. The familiar gold easily caught her attention, and she turned to see the two bracelets in front of her.

_His bracelets . . ._

She had practically snatched them from him out of shock and desperation. Her bottom lip quivered, already picturing him again, in his distant and arrogant glory, with his usual scowl and eyes that told everyone to stay away, and yet only for her did he put off the act. The tears were coming again, missing him even more now that she had only a piece of him with her. Sonic didn't want to disturb her, but he felt it necessary to say a few things regardless. She needed to know why Shadow couldn't come back. "I think you should have them. For memory's sake. He always wore them on his wrists except when he did Chaos Control back there. I think that if he still had them on, he wouldn't have reached his full power to do it, and he wouldn't have passed out so quickly in the first place. It's like a limiter to keep his powers in check so he doesn't overuse it and end up tired too fast, so when he took them off . . ."

Her eyes grew wide in disbelief. She didn't doubt that Sonic's words were true; what could he gain by lying to her when she was already torn apart? The very thought of Shadow risking his life and doing everything he could to protect everyone, and her, warmed her heart, but it did nothing to help the pain of his loss.

" . . . He's exactly right."

Rouge had spoken up, feeling a bit guilty and shaken up herself for knowing his vital weakness. Everyone had turned to look at her, wondering how would she know about this, but remembered that she had been peeking in a few of Gerald's journals on that disk that was supposed to go to the government, until Shadow destroyed it. "One of the journals in that disk I had . . . It had all of Shadow''s test procedures and data from when he was being created for the government fifty years ago. Including some of his weaknesses. He could easily waste all of his energy with his Chaos powers and become prone to fatigue afterwards. That's why Gerald created some inhibitor rings for him, which are those bracelets Amy's holding right now." Amy gasped in horror, nearly dropping them on the floor.

_So then, if he knew that . . . he must've taken them off on-purpose!_

"But why?" She finally turned to look Sonic in the eye. He saw her flushed cheeks and the tears falling down to her dress and her gloves. The whites of her eyes were red also, and he found himself fighting the upcoming tears just seeing her in so much distress and confusion. He always knew her as a cheerful rain of sunshine and happiness that kept everyone else going. but she was also fragile at heart, despite being able to swing a heavy mallet as if it were nothing. Her heart so easily believed in him, in dreams and happiness for everyone, even someone like Shadow. She believed in helping everyone smile and believe in their dreams, in going forth to pursue those dreams and living life to the fullest. And yet Shadow was never able to continue his journey; in fact, he had cut his own journey short by pulling that stunt. As noble and as valiant as his efforts were, she had wanted to believe that he'd come back as promised, that she'd guide him to his happy life in the future as he moved on from the traumas of fifty years ago, that he'd find happiness in the new friends he'd make with her and Sonic and everyone else while becoming another hero that she and the world could love and believe in. Why did it have to end this way instead? " . . . Why did he leave me like this?" She took one long shaky inhale before standing up to her feet slowly. Her fingers couldn't stop trembling, trying their hardest not to drop the last reminder of her cold-hearted enemy turned friend " . . . I need to be alone."

And then she bolted away from the room.

"Amy, wait!" Sonic had been quick to try and run after her, not wanting to leave her alone to cry if she was hurting so much from Shadow's death. However, someone else had stopped him. He looked back in confusion at his little fox buddy he had grown up with and loved as if they were really brothers. Even the young genius looked ready to cry, but was trying his hardest to stay strong. Shadow's death had been a noble one and he didn't need people shedding tears and regretting his death when this sacrifice had been expected after removing his inhibitor rings for the sake of the world. "Tails, what're you-"

"Sonic, let her go."

His jaw dropped in disbelief. Why would he even suggest that? Amy was torn apart; the last thing she needed was to be alone and cry without anyone there to comfort her. She was near depression and traumatic grief as it was! "But she was-"

"I know." Sonic grew quiet, still not understanding Tails' explanation. If he knew she was hurting, why would he let her urn off? " . . . But she needs to be alone right now. She knew more about him than any of us. Even Rouge. It's hurting her the most and we can't help her feel better. Only she can."

" . . . I just hope that she'll be okay."

* * *

_Shadow . . ._

Amy stared up at the starry sky from the room they had been in when she had been kidnapped. The stars were shining brighter than ever, but it meant nothing to her now. Her own shining star clad in ebony and scarlet had burned out. Even though his light continued to shine over the world after saving Earth, she knew that he was gone and that the light was dead, but hadn't reached the planet yet. In fact, the humans never realized that Shadow existed during all of the chaos. They probably figured Sonic saved the day from whatever the real threat was and were celebrating him again, but they knew nothing of who had framed him, of who helped Sonic save the Earth in the end. And who had died for their sake, despite having once despised them and once wanted nothing more than to destroy them all himself. She changed him, and that fact, an idea that had once filled her with overwhelming joy, practically destroyed her now. She persuaded him to help and it got him killed. It was practically her fault. And then Sonic couldn't even save him from crashing into Earth. She had no right to be mad at him, but she would've never thought that her words of encouragement throughout those two days would lead to this, that her own hero couldn't save him before it was too late. "Why did you have to leave like this though? I never thought that you'd slip out of the hand I reached out to you. I thought you'd come back and we'd finally be friends, and then I could help you adjust to the new world, but fate decided against that, huh?"

She sighed heavily, wiping the stray tears from her eyes. Instead, more tears fell, because while she had been attempting to fill the hole in his heart, he had taken a place in her heart as well, and he left a hole in hers when he left. Now who would fill that place for her? "Maybe they're right. You belong with the people you always cared about, not me. I'm just the stupid little girl that dug too deep into your business." She was being ridiculous and she knew it, but her mouth was moving on its own, saying words that she knew weren't true, but she said them anyways because it would've been easier on her heart had she not approached him that day with a hammer in her hands, or had he not pursued her when she accidentally mistook him for Sonic on Prison Island. Too many things happened in two days that lead to a strong bond that neither of them anticipated, and now that he was gone, the bond was broken, shattered into pieces, and she shattered along with it. Could she ever glue herself together again after this? "I never meant that much to you anyways. You said it yourself: your heart beats only for Maria. There's no room for anyone else . . . not even me." None of it was true, but it hurt anyways. It hurt worse trying to fool herself into thinking he never cared for her, after everything she did for him and tried to do. No, she couldn't lie to herself and believe that, and neither did these lies help relieve her of her heartache. But knowing that he did care about her, and then the fact that he was no longer there with her, made the whole in her heart consume more of her very soul. She could barely find the strength to stand any longer let alone keep her head up to look at the stars.

**"I have to make my promise to Maria . . . and you."**

" . . . If you had never met me . . . you wouldn't have died that way. You must hate me right now."

_**"Thank you, Amy. For everything."**_

"Sh-Shadow!" She turned around frantically, looking all over the room for wherever that voice came from. Then she realized that no one was there, that she was being stupid for believing that he might still be around or somehow made it back even though Sonic saw him falling. It had felt so real though, as if he had been in the room, right beside her. She almost thought the rings had glowed a bit when she heard the words. She didn't remember him saying that to her. Perhaps it was him in the afterlife still making fun of her like usual. What would he be saying right now?

_'Stupid girl. You look pathetic. You act like your husband just died and yet we barely knew each other for you to react like this. I did what I was meant to do; weeping over it would mean you regret that I helped save your planet from destruction like you wanted me to, like I was meant to do. It was an honorable sacrifice, and though I left sooner than anyone had anticipated, I was able to see my family once more. I finally completed my mission I was created to fulfill, so I can't exactly hate you anyways, even if it was your idea. I would've never known my reasons for living, why Maria had died for me, if you hadn't bothered to annoy me with your invading chatter. There was a reason why we crossed paths, so don't you dare try to regret anything, because had it been different, had I not met you, I would've killed you all along with me like I had previously meant to do. Would that have made you feel any better? Despite how nosy and irritatingly stubborn you were at times, I have no reason to hate a friend that only sought for my own happiness. Even if she is an annoying pink nuisance.' _

She found herself laughing and smiling at just the idea. That sounded like something he'd say. Being considerably nice and then shoving her away with insults that'd usually have her flared up and swinging her mallet around. I guess that was just his gimmick around her, but by now, she knew that he had been confused. Hating her for bringing up bad memories of Maria's death, and yet couldn't quite shove her away because she had a heart just like Maria's that he couldn't find in himself to harm or hurt. And especially now that she knew he saw her as a friend that truly cared, she realized that he kept up that gimmick as a sign of how their friendship had spawned: how two people that should've been foes turned into the best of friends, and how a creation hellbent on destroying humanity saved the planet from his own scheme in the end all because some nosy pink girl randomly showed up in his life and persuaded him to move on from that tragic memory and fill the hole in his heart with the new friends he could find with her and her friends.

"I was glad to help and be your friend, even for a little while. But you had to go back to them someday; they're your _real_ family. I just never expected it to happen so soon . . ."

She smiled as she saw three stars in space shining brightly beside each other, forming a perfect triangle far away from the other stars in space that she could see from the large window. It reminded her of Shadow and the two people he had scarcely mentioned. Who were they again? Maria and . . . Gerald. Gerald Robotnik. They were together again. It took fifty years, but they were together again. Shadow was right; he had been reunited with his family. That was probably what made him truly happy right now. That's what truly mattered.

And with that thought in mind she found the strength to smile again.

_I'll miss you. I'll never forget you, but this is the way it should've been for you, back with the people you belong with the most, that you always loved and cared for. Now you can finally be happy. Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog . . ._


	11. Extra: Maria's Last Journal (Destroyed)

October 28, 1963

Dear Shadow,

It's funny, you know, that Gerald never told you anything about me, why it's always just us two together and no one else. I assumed that he did; I mean, you had a right to know since we're friends. I'll tell you the truth, the whole truth.

Grandpa was in charge of creating a weapon for the government that would help protect the country from terrorists and whatnot. But as for my reasons for being there . . . What you never knew was that I had been diagnosed with a strange disease that was very contagious and had never been heard of. Gerald took me with him when I was born so that I couldn't contaminate the people on Earth. But the scientists had their job to do, so of course none of them could risk touching or being around me. Gerald tried his best but he could do nothing for me. I felt like I wasn't human anymore; no one, not even Grandpa, could console me or touch me or anything. He knew that I had been so lonely and depressed, so his plans for that Ultimate Weapon changed into an Ultimate Life Form called 'Project Shadow'.

Do you understand, Shadow? I couldn't go to Earth for so long because I was sick. I was always with you and happy to be with you because you were a creation; you couldn't get sick from my disease. Gerald had changed your purpose just for me and gave me a friend. But it wasn't just for me. He didn't want the government to be corrupted with power so a creation with feelings of love and compassion that I could give you would keep them morale and in order. I was happy to have you as a friend. I was happy to have some sort of importance while in Space Colony ARK, always alone and crying. I knew that I could never really go to Earth with my sickness at risk of terminating all of humanity. But I still dreamed. I still wanted to, and I wished that Gerald could find a cure, or that you could go and tell me all about it. It looks so pretty from the window we're always staring at. I bet closer up it'll be just like my dreams. I always wanted to go there with you, but I knew in my heart that it wasn't meant to be for me. So when you're gone, when you leave for Earth to work with the government, remember to visit me, okay? Tell me every detail. Tell the little children all of those stories I wanted to tell them about you. Give everyone there a chance to be happy, like how you made me happy.

Love always, Maria Robotnik


	12. AN: My Aims Throughout The Story

Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoyed my story! I tried to make them all as non-OC as possible.

That four years thing Sonic mentioned? I was mentioning how Sonic saved Amy from Metal Sonic when she was eight in Sonic CD (I looked up her age as best as I could) and she's twelve in Sonic X, so she's been swooning over him for four years. I felt like this little tid-bit put more emphasis on why Sonic would be upset about Amy not trusting him enough.

Now about Sonic! He seems different from Sonic X, I know, even OC. I was a little . . . upset, per say, on how he acted in Sonic X. Was it just me, or was he more absorbed in Shadow ruining his image instead of his friends? I mean, yeah, he definitely cared when he knew there was a freaking BOMB on the island, but otherwise, I mean, what the heck, man? And he should've shown more worrying when he never found Chris, considering he was Sonic's savior. That really confused me. He's had questionable moments throughout Sonic X, really, but that? I mean, really. So I made him show more concern and consideration for them, and when Shadow threatened to hurt one of his friends, especially someone who cares for him the most, he snapped because he cares more for his friends and reacts more seriously. This is the reason Dark Sonic formed in my story.

And as for Shadow, I know people have different views of him, but because of his clear care for Maria, I made him reluctant to get hurt again, but his inner emotions conflicts with that and longs for his companion still. He's more hellbent on killing humans because they were the reason of his sorrows, a bit on the calm and insane side because he's usually quiet and thinking too much.

And then Amy comes in.

He's not a trusting person and analyzes people like Rouge and opponents like Amy closely, and so he sees just how strong she is despite her appearance, and her heart of gold stands out most because it's so conflicting with his view of humans, but at the same time, it instantly stuns him with memories of Maria. Does he let her in later and risk getting hurt again, or keep them all away and be alone and unhappy for eternity? It's a conflict that's in his mind throughout their constant talks and meetings. And usually, being in solitude or alone makes you talk to yourself or mumble thoughts aloud. So Amy hears him saying those names and her nosy but caring side comes out and reaches out to him. And of course, he fights against it. Bent on giving Maria justice, he tries not to let her kind words fool him from letting her brainwash him. But after enough of this, he could snap because he feels like she's trying to hurt him more than Maria's death did by trying to drop his guard and acting as if she ever cared, trying to befriend him and soon make Maria seem so small in his wounded heart. It seems that way in his mind because he doesn't want to get hurt, and mainly because he doesn't want her to get hurt like Maria if she kept meddling in his dark realm like that and end up repeating that pain. But at the same time, he thinks that she's hurting him by trying to get rid of Maria, making herself seem just like her and fool his heart and mind and then devastate him again. Or trust hr only to lose her and see Maria dying again. The inner struggles of his conflicting emotions and desires aren't helping him keep his sanity.

And so he resorts to almost choking her the death!

Yes, that was the sign of his sanity slipping away. Fifty years of sleeping with Maria's death haunting his unconscious mind was one big reason why his insanity started. But because she's so different, he can't help but be a bit impressed and amused by her. Strong, energetic, perserverant, bold and daring, and let's not forget that amazing temper unlike what even Knuckles can keep up with! She caught his attention by seeming stronger than she looked and having the fight within her that, with her spunk, could still keep up with even him in battle. That first encounter did a number on him, as did others as he knew her better, and she knew him better against his will. Her heart of gold was so akin to Maria's spirit that he found himself afraid of getting too close, but longing for her company because it almost filled the hole in his heart, and yet he knew it wasn't the same. But it's also irritating how she can be so perserverant about his past, changing his motives about the Eclipse Cannon when he was doing it for Maria's justice. And then wanting to befriend her kidnapper. Such nonsense in his mind, but he soon realizes it's all coming from her caring spirit. Her heart is her strongest weapon of all, not just her famous Piko Piko hammer. And she soon reaches him in the end, telling him that she was not trying to replace Maria, but heal the wound her death left behind. And to persuade him that if she were anything like Maria, then Maria would not want him to hurt the humans, but protect them and forgive them so that he could move on and live happily with new friends to fill his heart. Her reasons for bothering? Simply because she cared. Always did.

How naive; it wasn't that simple . . . But still, it was clear that she cared and only wanted to help him. He hated that pity, but still. He couldn't shove her away anymore because she was so damn persistent, but frankly, he was getting tired of shoving everything anything. Now he can embrace it all, and with Amy as his caring friend, she helped him move on.

But that tragic ending was still impossible to avoid. I'm sorry that I killed the sweetness of the story with that tragedy, but this story was a remix of the original. The beginning, the main parts, and the ending would stick to it, but some parts I changed to fit my intended Shadamy Friendship story (along with Shadow teasing her for his own amusement). There IS a sequel to this that makes it more related to Sonic X than Sonic Adventure 2! Which means Chris and them will have more tribute. *insert groan of annoyance* I have my reasons for it, I can assure you. That sequel with have more friendship and humor. And **_romance! _**And no sad tragedies that make us all cry.


End file.
